


Twat

by nishiki



Category: Misfits (TV 2009), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Twins, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Immortality, Magic, Nathan Young Being Nathan Young, Nathan Young Has Feelings, Nathan Young is his own warning, Nathan being immortal, Nathan causing chaos, No Apocalypse (Umbrella Academy), Protective Siblings, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Sibling Bonding, its never twins Watson, past series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:54:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 67,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23820400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nishiki/pseuds/nishiki
Summary: After the apocalypse had been averted through the power of love, Klaus Hargreeves sees himself confronted with the fact that Reginald lied about even more things than just Vanya's powers.
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Grace Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Kelly Bailey & Nathan Young, Klaus Hargreeves & Dr. Pogo, Klaus Hargreeves & Luther Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Nathan Young, Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Louise Young & Nathan Young, Nathan Young & Jamie Young, Nathan Young & Mike Young, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves, Simon Bellamy & Nathan Young
Comments: 150
Kudos: 392





	1. Prolog

Four months after the Hargreeves siblings had averted the apocalypse with the power of love - as Klaus was still adamant to say - the world was bright, sunny, and warm. August was in full swing, the days were sweltering hot and the nights uncomfortably muggy in the old house. So, most of them favored being outside as much as possible for the lack of air-conditioning inside the mansion. Reginald Hargreeves had rather put all his money in stupid antiques and nick-nacks than air-conditioning. Klaus was four months sober now and although those four months had not gone by without any hiccups, as had been expected, he was still proud of his achievement. The last time he had slipped up and taken a shot of vodka had been three months ago and not even Luther had given him too much crap for it. Apparently, the monkey man was taking those brochures that Diego had given him very seriously. Life couldn't be better.

And then it all seemed to change. 

It started with little things. Things that could easily be explained away. Shop-clerks looking at him funnily when he entered his usual digs - not that this would be new for Klaus after a past like his. He had been looked at funnily for most of his life, especially during his life on the streets. It came with the territory. Hell, he could count the shops where he wasn’t banned from on one hand. So, in the end, the weird behavior of the shop-clerks wasn’t too weird, all things considered.

However, when people - mainly women - started calling him all kinds of names when he would walk past them, he realized that something was off. Sure, he knew all kinds of people from his former life but only a handful of those would actually be offended by him walking past them without a word of greeting. 

He was out at the park with Diego and Ben - even though the latter could only be seen by him right now - when some random girl came up to him and slapped him without warning across the face. It happened so fast, that Klaus barely had any time to register what was going on. One moment he made fun of the way Diego was eating a Cornetto, the next moment some angry lady had bitch-slapped him so hard across the face that he was sure it would leave a mark and dropped his own ice cream. If Diego had been wearing his harness, that woman would have been dead on the spot for sure.

"What the hell?" Diego shouted but the woman had already stormed off in her rage, leaving the two Hargreeves’ boys behind in the dust. "Do you know that girl?"

"No!" Klaus exclaimed looking after her. "I mean … Maybe? I don't know! The last thirteen years of my life were kind of a blur, Baby."

He could tell that Diego wasn’t convinced by his words, but Number Two chose not to say anything else to this while Klaus was mourning the loss of his ice-cream. At least not for the time being. He could feel Diego’s suspicious glances at him though. Fuck, he couldn't even blame Diego for being suspicious now. It wasn’t like he had been the most trustworthy person in the world in the past, right? 

After all, it sure was possible that he had known her in his past life, right? He had not necessarily discriminated his sex partners by gender. Sure, he preferred men but under the ever-present influence of both drugs and alcohol, he really hadn't cared that much. To him, it had just been sex and he hadn't put much importance on the why, how, where, or who. These experiences had not always been pleasant either and some of the memories he had made during that time, were still shaking him awake at night sometimes. Needless to say, his past on the streets had not been all sunshine and lollipops all the time - or really, at all. He had tried acting like he had been living his best life, the life of a free spirit - free love and shit - but that was just not the truth. Life on the streets had been tough. It had been a constant struggle and he had certainly done things he wasn’t proud of.

Even his most stubborn siblings slowly seemed to grasp that truth. In fact, he would go as far as to say that Luther had been shaken so badly by that whole pesky apocalypse thing, that he was now dead-set on being the best and most understanding big brother anyone could ever hope to have. It was, of course, a little odd to have the big guy hover around him almost constantly. It had taken Luther a little while to understand everything that had gone wrong in the past but when he had finally gotten it, there had been nothing stopping him anymore from trying to mend his relationships with his siblings.

Even Klaus had started opening up to the others from time to time. Sometimes, a few facts about his time on the street would slip past his defenses and his siblings were generally left horrified by the pictures he was painting in vivid colors. He had started to realize that, until now, most of them had never even really thought what his life had been like. Of his six siblings, Ben and Diego were the only ones who could say they had a decent enough idea when it came to Klaus’ life on the streets.

After that rather unfortunate encounter, however, it seemed that Diego’s suspicion had been reawakened. That same suspicion Klaus had grown accustomed to in their shared past. He knew that his siblings waited for him to slip up and Diego probably even expected it. He couldn't blame the poor guy. He had been there through it all, right? He had seen it time and time again. He had put him in rehab again and again only for Klaus to fuck it all up again and again. He had heard all the promises Klaus had made towards him and then seen how he would break those promises without batting an eye. 

Klaus told himself that he could live with that renewed suspicion his brother directed at him not so very discreetly. Diego tried his best to make it seem like everything was a-okay after that incident with that random woman out in the streets. Needless to say, he failed miserably and Klaus couldn't help but notice the concerned looks that Diego would shoot him or how much he hovered more than he usually would. No matter how much Klaus told himself that he didn't deserve it any other way or that he could live with all of that suspicion easily, deep down, he could feel anger brewing. He was, after all, four months clean now. He attended the meetings regularly, collected his chips. He was the model of the recovering drug addict and still, his siblings wouldn't trust him. 

As Klaus woke up that morning and voiced his annoyance with Diego at Ben, his brother reminded him gently that Diego was just afraid. "He saw you overdose how many times? And how many more times has he been called to the hospital after one of your overdoses or after you gotten beat up in the streets? Don't forget that one time this psycho bitch stabbed you with a broken bottle right in the gut to rob you! It's a miracle you survived that one!"

"Yeah, I’m a miracle, alright." Klaus sighed and sat up in his bed. It was too hot to sleep in anything other than the most scandalous briefs he could get his hands on - much to Ben’s dismay. Blankets were clearly a big no-no these days either. Already he was sweaty and uncomfortable and his hair was no doubt a complete and utter curly mess on his head. Maybe Allison would cut it later for him. Or he could ask Mom. 

"Not what I said, but okay." Ben scoffed.

"But listen, Ben … I just can't stand him looking at me like that anymore, okay? I feel like dad is back again but now Diego is staring at me like he’s a living breathing surveillance camera! I’m not okay with being looked at like I’m going to relapse as soon as he looks away for a second. Don't I deserve a bit more trust? I mean, I’m four months sober! And, as I might remind you, I prevented the apocalypse when I opened that cell and made the others actually listen to Vanya!"

"Yeah, but you also kinda started the apocalypse when you threw Reggie’s important notebook out into the trash so that this creep could find it."

"Yeah, and if Daddy wouldn't have messed me up like he did, I would have never started taking drugs and if I had never started taking drugs, I wouldn't have needed to throw out his notebook to pawn off the box for drug money! So what was first? The chicken or the egg?"

"That analogy doesn't work one bit right now. You are aware of that, right?"

"I just made it work! Like you said: I’m a miracle."

"I … Forget it." Ben sighed in defeat. "Anyway, Diego came back home last night in quite the bad mood so try not to grind his gears before he had his smiley pancakes."

"Can you believe that Mom still makes him those? He’s almost thirty!"

"She still cuts off the crust of your sandwiches too and you’re also almost thirty."

"Touché, mon frère, touché." 

Not ten minutes later, Klaus realized that Ben was indeed right with his assessment of the situation. Their brother was beyond pissed as he stood at the stove and was cooking breakfast while Mom was currently dusting the ugly trophy heads in the living room. It was a surprise that Diego took over making breakfast today but he knew that his brother needed to busy his hands when he was angry. However, Diego cooking also meant that there would be no smiley pancakes for Diego today and no smiley pancakes for Diego usually meant that his brother’s mood would turn from bad to worse. After Ben’s incessant nagging, Klaus had put on a pair of loose-fitting pants and a simple tank top before walking downstairs so that he would not ‘scar the others for life’.

"Good Morning, Sunshine!" Klaus greeted Diego cheerily with a bright grin even though he knew that he was playing with fire here. "I see you are burning the bacon! What a wonderful sight to behold. I take it your patrol last night wasn't very successful? No baddies that did bad things so you could punch them? No maidens in need of defending? No dragons to slay?" 

He didn't get an answer. In fact, Diego was not even looking at him. Well, that was new. He would have expected Diego to go at his throat immediately. Instead, his brother poured more salt on the eggs he was frying in a second pan. Yeah, that would be absolutely inedible when it was sufficiently burned enough for Diego to eat. 

"So, care to join me later for a nice walk in the park and some ice cream? Maybe this time no crazy lady will hit me. Of course, it's your treat." Again, he didn't receive an answer. Now he was starting to get a little annoyed. "Diego? Hey, Dee! Big Dee! My favorite big brother! Love of my life! Sunshine! Talk to me, come on!"

And still, Diego ignored him but he could see that tiny vein on his neck twitching. Oh, he was livid. Diego only got real quiet when he had reached that level of anger where he was one step away from murder. And, apparently, that anger was directed at Klaus for some reason because as Five zapped into the room, Diego had no trouble acknowledging his presence with a grunt. 

"Hey, everything okay?" He tried again and nudged Diego’s shoulder just as Five was rummaging particularly loudly through the fridge. As it turned out, nudging Diego had been a big mistake because the next thing he knew was that his brother pressed the tip of a very dull butter knife right into the underside of his chin, a clear warning in his eyes not to push him any further. "Gee!" Klaus groaned and pushed Diego’s hand out of the way. "I was just asking if everything was okay! No need to threaten me!"

"Shut up." Finally, he spoke, even though his voice was laced with fury as he did. Now that got him worried. In fact, apparently that even got Five worried, as the old man grabbed Klaus by the elbow to pull him back. Klaus, however, had never been good at stepping away from an altercation.

"No!" He groaned and shook Five off. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Diego? You can't just tell me to shut up after threatening me with the dullest butter knife in the existence of mankind! At least have enough respect to threaten me with a sharp ass machete or something! I mean, what the fuck did I do now to piss you off? I literally just got out of bed!"

"Oh, you just got out of bed, huh?" Diego frowned and turned away from the stove, forgetting all about his already ruined breakfast. "And when did you go to bed? Because last time I saw you, you were out at four in the morning getting high with some random chick behind a nightclub!"

Five gasped and looked at Klaus with big angry eyes and, of course, that was the moment when all the others started piling in too. In this family, everyone seemed to feel a weird attraction to fights and drama. It was like a siren call to his siblings while Klaus was usually the one trying to avoid any and all fighting. 

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Klaus shot back without a care in the world for the fact that Diego and he now had an audience.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Luther stepped into the room and placed a hand on Klaus’ shoulder as he noticed the tense atmosphere between Two and Four who were normally two peas in a pot. "Everything okay, Klaus?"

"Yeah, everything okay Klaus?" Diego mocked. "Do you want to tell them how you got piss drunk last night only to top it all off with a few happy pills or should I do it?"

Immediately, the entire room turned against him. He felt like he was being backed into a corner as his siblings all started to throw questions at him. Vanya had even tears in her eyes in disappointment, while Five just shook his head and muttered ‘unbelievable’ and ‘I should have seen that one coming’ under his breath. Luther was furious, Allison seemed exhausted and Diego was still livid. 

"I don't know what you are talking about!" Klaus shot back and held up his hands in surrender. "I wasn't out last night! I went to bed at midnight, right before you went on patrol! Ben can vouch for me! I didn't leave my bed!"

"Then make him corporal and prove it to us! Come on!"

"He’s not here right now!" Because, of course, Benny wouldn't be there when he needed a witness. His brother had the worst timing of all ghosts in the history of the world. 

"Yeah, of course, he isn't!" Five scoffed. "Just fucking admit it Klaus so that we can start this fucking shit all over again, okay?" 

"I tell you! I didn't take anything! I’m clean!" 

He barely registered the sound of the doorbell ringing over the shouting that ensued right that moment and neither did the others. Even as Mom stepped into the room just a few seconds later, they didn't register it - until a new voice chimed in overall the yelling and cursing.

"Christ on a cracker!" The voice cheerily announced the presence of a young man. "What the bloody hell smells so rotten in here, ey? Crap! Look at that mess, Mate! Someone burned the fuckin bacon! Who would do such a thing to an innocent piggy?" 

The shouting and yelling stopped at once as all siblings stared in shock and confusion at the young man that stood beside their mother. Mom just smiled her brightest, artificial smile as if there was nothing wrong with the situation as a perfect carbon copy of Klaus stood right beside her, a Cheshire grin on his face and mischievous green eyes sparkling back at the group.

**-End of Chapter 1-**


	2. Chapter 2

Coming to America had been, in essence, a great plan. Coming to Las Vegas, in essence, had been a great plan. Until the door of his prison cell had been closed in his face, leaving him alone with three other very much pissed-off inmates. In all honesty, it had been only a matter of time until something like this would happen and Nathan Young had always been aware of it. His entire life seemed to have led up to this moment when he would finally get his ass in prison for real. His road through life was a one-track journey and he had missed jumping off the train at the right moment. This time, he would not simply get away with community service, not after the criminal record that he had and not in a country as strict as the U.S. and A. He should be glad that he hadn't been shot, he assumed.

Well, his big mouth didn't exactly help him in the situation he had maneuvered himself into. After his failed attempt to call Barry, Nathan had soon realized that he was on his own for real this time. There was no one left who could and would help him. His mother, as soon as she had heard about his arrest and his conviction, had ended all contact with her own son. It shouldn't have surprised him the way it had, in the end. However, at least to himself, he couldn't deny that he felt hurt by his mother’s reaction.

He got five years for his stunt at the casino. Five years. It seemed a bit much for all he knew but then again, what did he know, right? Maybe five years for trying to steal a crap ton of money from a casino was the appropriate amount of time. 

To his luck, he didn't have to serve the five years, though. He got out early on good behavior after three years and only had to stick around in Vegas for the rest of the time on probation. When he finally reached his friends in good old Britain and told them about it, the surprise had been evident. 

"You got out on good behavior?" Simon asked as he stared at him wide-eyed like the psycho he was. His friend had made it big in whatever job he was currently doing and had decided to fly out to meet Nathan again after all this mess settled down. Undoubtedly, Kelly had instructed Simon to fly out to look after their friend for a little while as she was busy being a good samaritan or something.

"Yeah! Can you believe it? Me! Oh, also I got killed." 

"You- what?" 

"Strange, innit?" Nathan shot back. They had met at a bar in downtown, far away from the casinos from which he had been banned permanently anyway. "I sold that power and got my new one, after all!"

"Yeah, sure … But I mean … luckily for you, it seems that it hasn’t worked, right? Selling your power, I mean." He seemed to have missed the moment when Simon had actually decided to grow some balls and stopped patting down his hair awkwardly in times of crisis. Sometimes, he missed the old awkward Simon who had once declared with a little bit of a stutter that he just wanted to be his friend while they had been chasing down a shapeshifting mouse.

"Apparently! So I am now _Nathan the immortal magician!_ " He extended his arms with a flourish. A few patrons at the bar looked at him puzzled. Well, asking Nathan, no one who frequented a bar in the middle of the day in Las Vegas had any right to judge anyone. Only losers like him hung out at bars in the middle of the day.

"God help us all." Simon rolled his eyes with a fond smile. "So what are you going to do now?"

"I will be a good boy, find work as a magician here in Vegas and when my two years are up, I’m gonna travel the rest of the U.S." 

"So you are not coming back home?" Simon almost sounded a bit disappointed at the prospect of a Southeast London without Nathan Young there to torment the city. It seemed only natural that the weirdo would miss him after three years of Nathan gone already. 

"I don't think so. Not yet at least. I mean, what do I have to come back to anyway, right? My mum doesn't want me there anyway." 

Besides Kelly, Simon seemed the only one he could share these kinds of thoughts with. His friend seemed a lot more confident these days too. The last three years had been good to him, as it seemed. He had really grown into himself and developed a kind of confidence that Nathan had never thought possible when thinking about Simon Bellamy. He was a bit saddened by the fact that he hadn't been there to witness it. Simon stayed for about two weeks before he went back to the good old United Kingdom and Nathan stayed behind as planned, regardless of how often Simon had tried to convince Nathan to come back.

The following two years, he spent working his magician gig and when he was finally allowed to spread his wings again, he had enough money to do so as well. The four years following his time in Vegas, he traveled the country, visited Hollywood and New York, went to New Orleans and Chicago. He was kicked out of the Washington Monument and spent a summer in Mexico underneath palm trees in the sand. Life was good.

And then, in the early Summer of 2019, Nathan Young arrived at his latest destination. Icarus City was not exactly the place to be. It was a small city up north not too far away from the Canadian border. The only reason why Nathan found his way up there was that his latest fling had told him to visit the place with her. They had broken up two days after they had reached the city. Such was his luck with the ladies, as it seemed. At least this time, the girl hadn't tried to pretend to be pregnant with his child. In fact, she had been glad to kick him to the curb, as most people were. 

He found his new destination to be friendly and relaxed for the most part. And only two days after he had arrived there and started hitting up the nightlife, he realized that he would never leave this place ever again. The people were so friendly that even drug dealers greeted him with open smiles and small dosages of their goods for free. It irritated him a little that they were calling him their best former customer already but he knew that he had a very nondescript face and maybe such was the way of life in this city. Well, who was he to judge, right?

People at raves also welcomed him with open arms and he was a little confused when the first guys started outright hitting on him and called him Klaus of all things. He blamed them being high off their asses and told them that they had the wrong guy. Most people would just look at him funnily whenever he would say that but during those moments, Nathan too would be so high that he didn't really think about it for too long. 

During his first two weeks, quite a few weird things started happening to him, apart from the overly friendly drug dealers or bartenders. People in the streets seemed to recognize him. He saw some people whisper excitedly to each other while clearly speaking about him and not hiding it in the slightest. He would usually just wave at them with a smile and move on. Some people even asked for his autograph only to be rude to him when he gave it to them. First, he thought that they knew him from his magician career that he tried to get going in this new place with limited success but even he soon started to realize that something was amiss. 

And then it happened. He was walking down a busy street and just breezed past an electronics shop as he caught sight of some random talk show on one of the TVs in the shop's window. A pretty talk show host sat on a lavish red sofa, clad in the most aggressively pink dress Nathan had ever seen, and on another sofa, she had a group of six people gathered, two women, a little boy, and three young men. 

"The Umbrella Academy finally up and fighting crime again!" The young woman cheered and so did her audience as the camera shortly showed them. "I think we can all agree that we are delighted to see all of you reunited after the tragic loss of your brother so many years ago and your father just this year. Tell me, was it actually your father's death that made you come back together again as a team?"

Nathan barely listened to the interview or to the answer that this one woman of the group gave. He could swear that he had seen her before in a movie. No, his eyes were stuck on the face of one of the men. He was sitting on the armrest of the sofa right next to the talking woman, smiling charmingly at the host. He had a slender, tall figure much like Nathan himself, dark brown hair, a goatee no too dissimilar to his own and a face that Nathan usually admired in the mirror every morning. The man on the TV was a perfect carbon copy of himself.

※※※※※※※

"That's how I found out about you guys!" The stranger, Nathan, grinned as he finished his tale with the same flailing arm movements he had used all throughout telling his long-winded story. Klaus was still completely in shock as they sat in the living room of his childhood home. Nathan sat on the sofa while all his siblings had gathered around the young man without actually sitting anywhere close to him as if he might be contagious. Klaus too shied away from getting too close. After everything they had seen in their crime-fighting days, who was to say that Nathan was not some shapeshifting evil mastermind? 

Nathan looked at them - more importantly at Klaus - with big expectant, excited eyes, waiting for one of them to break the silence that resulted from his story. Before anyone could say anything, however, Nathan opened his mouth again. He seemed to be a person full with nervous energy who couldn't sit still for even five minutes or at least keep his mouth shut for that short amount of time. He was the kind of guy who needed to fill every bit of silence with nervous chatter, it seemed.

"So! What is all of this, huh? I mean, I read about the lot of you in a few magazines after I saw you on the telly, right? You guys are crazy famous! How the bloody hell have I never heard of you before? granted, I never gave two flying shits about anything that was going on in the rest of the world, innit? Well, anyway! Are you really some sort of superheroes? Because, listen, mates, I too am somewhat of a superhero, right?" It was like having pulled a plug from a bathtub. Nathan was talking nineteen to the dozen without even taking a breath. "It all happened when there was this freak storm ten years ago in London, right? Me and my friends were hit by lightning or something. Well, we weren’t friends then but, Jesus, committing crimes together really does create strong bonds between people! And I kid you not, after that we all got those weird powers! For example, that long lug Curtis, he was an athlete before he got caught with coke, right? Well, he could turn back time - but only if it served him, that little selfish prick! Needed to be in the mood for it or something. Gee! I tell you! And then there was this girl Alisha! Oh boy! Every time she touched someone they were going crazy horny! And then-"

"Oh my God, shut up!" It was Five who lost his patience first - which had been expected. Everyone else was still in shock. Diego looked like he had gotten whiplash from the way Nathan was talking. "I still can't believe it. There’s two of that moron." 

"Hey!" Klaus hissed and threw the next best thing in his grasp at his brother’s head. It was a magazine Allison had been reading the other day. He failed in his assault and the magazine fell to the ground and ended up in a sad little heap.

"What? He’s exactly like you!" Five reasserted his point as he was waving his hand between Klaus and Nathan.

"He’s not!"

"Yeah, he kinda is." Luther sighed. "Like Klaus on speed." Luther looked exhausted as he wiped a hand over his face but he seemed now determined to actually understand all of what was going on. Luther being determined to figure shit out was never the best thing. Last time, it had led to Luther getting stupid drunk and Klaus dying on the dancefloor of a rave. "Okay, so I have a ton of questions. I guess we all do. So … you are from London?"

"Born in Port Laoise, Ireland, but raised in London! Well, after my Dad made us go to London for work before he cheated on my Mum and my Mum then kicked his ass out, right? After that, it was just the two of us. Well, the two of us and a never-ending stream of boyfriends that my mum let in the house! Seriously! Our front door was like a revolving door while I grew up! I would never badmouth my mum but she was kind of a slut, right? I think I’m allowed to say that too, after she left me to rot in a U.S. prison! I mean, can you believe it? Me in prison? I tell you! It's a miracle I wasn’t gang-raped daily! But who am I talking to!" He turned his attention back to Klaus and he felt oddly put on the spot by it. "I read you were in prison too! Man! When I came here, I was so confused! So many people offered me free drugs, right? Then I read in that one magazine that you are kinda like the troubled black sheep of the family! Just like me! We have so much in common! Apart from the face and all that, of course." 

"I am getting a headache." Five groaned. "Or an aneurysm." 

"Oi, little fella, I have something for that! You never travel without something for headaches, right? Oh … Is the little guy old enough to take ibuprofen, though?"

Five looked ready to kill but before Nathan could dig his own grave even deeper, Allison stood up and held her hands out placatingly. "Okay, slow down, Nathan, okay?", She sighed before looking at her siblings with furrowed brows. "Do you guys think he’s one of the 43?"

"One of the 43? what do you mean- Oh! Yeah, I read about that too! Nah! I was born in March 1989! Sad, I know! I know, you wished I was one of you, right? Well, who wouldn't? Still! Curious how we two look the same, right? You’re German, though, right, Klausie-Mausie?"

He felt himself wither under that nickname. "Yeah" Klaus then muttered. It was the first time he actually talked to Nathan since he arrived and he didn't know how to think or feel about it. Ben too was not much of a help as he looked at his brother. Nathan, however, followed Klaus’ gaze to the side and then waved at Ben. 

"So you are the dead one, huh?" Everyone fell silent at that and Ben looked as if he had been hit by lightning. Seemingly aware of the weird looks he got, Nathan quickly added: "Oh, sorry! I talked about that storm, right? So, it gave all of us powers and everyone thought that I didn't get anything out of it because my powers wouldn't manifest! Well, until I fell off the roof of the community center and was pierced by an iron fence like a fucking shish kebab! Classic! It all happened because of this weird virgin cunt, right? And because my friend Barry couldn't catch me. Anyway! I was buried and everyone was all sad and shit and then, can you believe it, I woke up in my fucking coffin! At least one of my friends was cool enough to put my iPod in my coffin! Oh! I told you about my slut of a mum, right? She didn't even bury me in a proper suit! Unbelievable, right? She had me buried in jeans and a t-shirt and shit! What kinda grieving mother would do that?"

"So, you are immortal?" Diego finally managed to open his mouth to form a question.

"Yeah! Oh right. So, a side-effect of that power seems to be that I can also see ghosts. Not all the time. But sometimes. So, yeah. I heard about that one brother of yours who died and he’s just standing around over there making funny faces. I would assume he has a stroke but since he’s already dead, I think he just might be a little rude. Well, being able to see him is actually weird, right? Because I sold this power before I left for America! There was this strange dude who had the power to extract powers of the people affected by the storm and he would buy them and sell them and we all got rid of our shit powers and then we wanted them back but we were like: Why should we take the old ones back when we could have shiny new ones, right? So I got the power of doing magic! But then I died in prison and-"

"Wait a tick, so you can see Ben?" Klaus muttered and exchanged another look with his dead brother.

"If that's his name, sure, Mate! I’ve never been good with names so don’t expect me to remember your guys’ names. So what's your whole deal?" Again, Nathan turned his eyes on Klaus and he wondered if he had the same effect on people when he would look at them. Right now, he felt like Nathan was shining a spotlight at him. He stared with such intensity at Klaus, that he felt like he was the only person in the room right now. 

"I see dead people." Klaus shrugged. 

"Not only that" Diego chimed in as if Klaus was an old second-hand car that he tried to find a customer for. "He can also conjure the dead and communicate with them in the afterlife."

"I am a human Ouija board." Klaus sighed and raised his hands for Nathan to see his tattoos. 

"And apparently, he can also not die," Ben added helpfully from the sidelines. His brother didn't seem too happy about the fact that Nathan could see him too, though. He would have expected that Ben would be at least a little thrilled to have someone else to talk to beside Klaus now. 

"Nuts!" Nathan laughed. "So we really are the exact same, huh?"

"Not exactly, no." Five huffed. He sounded almost affronted that Nathan would even go as far as to compare himself to one of them. Klaus didn't quite know how to feel about this. It was oddly sweet that Five seemed to think that Klaus was better than Nathan because this was clearly what his words and his tone implied.

"Are you sure about not being born in October?" Vanya suddenly chimed up from where she sat next to Allison.

"Of course!" Nathan laughed. "I was a normal guy until I was hit with that lightning bolt!" 

"It's a bit much of a coincidence though, isn’t it?" Five approached Nathan and looked at him with that same gaze the old man would always use when he was trying to solve a puzzle. "We should ask Pogo - or Mom. They would know." 

"Yeah, about your Mum, right? She’s really pretty and so young! How is she so young? Did your old man change wives a few times or what? Oh, he did, didn't he? Is that him? That old geezer up there?"

"I’m gonna fetch Mom and Pogo." Five sighed and blinked out of the room before he had to hear any more of Nathan’s inane rambling.

"Wow!" Nathan grinned. "Wild! I knew a girl who could teleport! Nikki! Well, she was crap at it though. Couldn’t control it! What's your thing?" He turned to Diego and Diego didn't disappoint as he threw the knife he had been twirling to busy his hands right at Nathan’s head only to curve it last minute to have it land in Reginald’s face on the portrait instead. "Jesus!"

"To make it short" Diego then snarled and pointed at Luther. "Superhuman strength and endurance. Manipulation of reality by lying." 

"Hey!" Allison whacked Diego in the shoulder.

"What? It's true! And this one can convert sound into energy."

"I’m still learning to control that, though," Vanya whispered quietly and more timidly than she should be. 

"And Five can jump through time and space."

"Five?"

"We have numbers for names. Fivey didn't want to be a real boy." Klaus huffed.

"You are fucking with me, right? And what's his power? Being dead?"

"Being a sarcastic bitch I would say."

"You are so lucky I’m dead." Ben huffed. "When I was alive I had a portal to the monster land in my stomach."

"What?"

"Oh yes, loads of tentacles!" Klaus laughed. 

"Yeah, now I know that you are fucking with me!" Nathan blurted out with a shrill laugh that made Diego cringe at Klaus’ side. So far, the brothers had no chance to talk to each other after their fight this morning but he could tell how bad Diego was feeling just by the way he hovered near Klaus now. It was his way of apologizing for being a dick and accusing him of shit. Just then Five came back into the room with Mom and Pogo trailing after him as he was actually walking for once. "No way!" At the sight of Pogo, Nathan jumped from this seat. "No, you are kidding me! is that a bloody chimpanzee in a suit? What? Nuts, you guys!"

Pogo didn't seem too bothered by the way Nathan reacted to him. He just kept his usually calm expression as he rested his weight gently on his cane and looked up at the young man that looked like one of his children.

"You know my friend Kelly once fucked-"

"Master Nathan, I suppose?" Pogo interrupted the Irishman and Nathan almost took a double-take at that.

"He can speak?"

"Of course, he can speak!" Luther groaned. "He was our dad’s assistant."

"He actually has a doctor's title." Klaus huffed. "He pretty much raised us."

"He was a better kind of dad than dad ever was." Diego agreed with a lopsided grin and Klaus took notice of how flustered Pogo seemed by that praise. 

"Master Five asked Grace and me to come to see you and help you with a question, he said." Pogo continued. "I assume that question is related to Master Nathan?"

"So we were just wondering." Luther chimed up. "He said he was born in March but I mean, look at him! And he has powers too and-"

"Nathan’s DNA is a 99.9987 % match to that of our dear Klaus." Grace interrupted without needing to be prompted to do so, the smile on her face never wavering as she clasped her hands in front of her stomach. In fact, she seemed excited at this revelation. 

"But that doesn’t make any sense if what he says is true!" Five groaned.

"Wait a tick!" Nathan chimed in. "How did she-"

"She’s a robot," Klaus explained calmly even though Diego hated it when someone would call Grace that. To Diego, calling their mother a robot was as good as calling her a whore. "Dad built her to raise us and take care of us."

"That's a trick, right?"

Before Nathan could launch into yet another wild story, Pogo cleared his throat loudly and immediately commanded the attention inside the room like he did when they were still children. "I am afraid, Master Nathan, you should have a stern conversation with your mother."

"Pogo" Klaus began quietly as he stared the Chimp down. "Pogo, please do not tell me what I think you are going to say. Is this yet another one of Dad’s secrets that he didn't bother to tell us- That he didn't bother to tell me ?"

Pogo seemed just as uncomfortable as when he had told them the truth about Vanya four months ago. "My dear Klaus" He then turned to him and moved over to where Klaus sat next to Diego to take his hand into one of his own like he used to when Klaus was a little boy and bawling his eyes out after the mausoleum. Pogo may have helped his father to put him in there, but he had also been there to pick up the pieces afterward. "You all know under which circumstances you have been born. Many of the babies didn't survive that day. And there have been complications during your birth too, Klaus. Those complications, your father believed, also led to one aspect of your powers."

"What complications?" Klaus mumbled quietly. 

"You were stillborn, my dear boy." Pogo sighed. "And your mother died right after giving birth to you as she was all alone and no one was there to help that poor girl. Your twin brother, however, lived. When you were found, his umbilical cord was still wrapped around your throat. There was nothing that could be done. You and your brother were rushed to the hospital when you started breathing again suddenly. It was a miracle. Your grandparents told the medical staff that they wanted you both to go into adoption. It was too much of a scandal. Your brother had already been given to a young couple and had been impossible to track down when Sir Reginald found you at last." 

There was so much Klaus needed to wrap his head around then. The deathly silence that fell over the room was deafening and made him feel claustrophobic. The room was much too small all of a sudden. He rose from his spot beside Diego without knowing what he was doing and had rushed out before he even registered that Diego was calling after him. He couldn't breathe in there. He couldn't sit there and stare at Nathan and understand all of this when nothing seems to make any sense anymore. 

※※※※※※※

Nathan felt like he was caught in a maelstrom of confusion. He had come to this house to confront the guy that was looking exactly like him and find out why that guy was looking exactly like him and now he was sitting in that guy’s living room and watched him storm off. He couldn't deny it that he wanted to storm off as well. It was all a bit much and for once he found it to be difficult to make any kind of stupid comment or jokes as he sunk into the couch cushions. The dead guy had followed Klaus out of the room right away. He really wished Barry would be here right now to make sense of all of this because right now, he really had a hard time wrapping his head around what just happened.

This chimp in human clothes had just dropped a huge bomb on his head and no one really seemed to care about it. Well, what else was new, right? He really needed to talk to someone who wasn’t part of this messed up family of superheroes right now. 

"I’m gonna go after him." The guy with the knives suddenly stated and rose to his feet. He looked at Nathan shortly before giving him a court nod, squeezing his shoulder, and walked away. That was probably his way of showing that he cared. Nathan suddenly grew aware of the other people in the room just staring at him a little awkwardly. He rarely felt self-conscious about anything but right now he did and so, he slowly rose to his feet.

"I think … I should go for now, right? Uhm … maybe tell Klaus that he can find me at the Icarus Hotel … it's down the street from the-"

"Icarus Theater." One of the girls, the very short one with the brown hair, said with a little smile. "I’m working at the theater." She then added with a smile. Nathan nodded quickly and scratched the back of his head a little awkwardly.

"Okay, so … It was nice meeting you all and stuff." 

He didn't want to look like he was fleeing from the house but he knew that it probably still looked like it just by how quickly he was walking out of the room, through the entrance hall and out of the house. He was already at the next corner when he pulled out his phone. Ignoring the fact that there was a time difference and that Simon was probably sleeping or at work, he dialed his number and kept walking without a destination in mind. Right now, he just wanted to get as much distance between him and the house as possible.

The phone rang five times and Nathan was about to give up when Simon’s sleepy voice answered him at last. "Nathan?" He groaned. "It's one AM."

"Sorry, sorry, I know!" He didn't know and Simon knew that he didn't know. He also knew that his friend would indulge him. 

"Has something happened? You are still in one piece, are you? Tell me you are not in prison again."

"I’m not in prison," Nathan replied diligently. "Remember how I told you about that guy who looks like me and about that whole Umbrella Academy thing?"

"Yes, and I am still amazed that you didn't know about them. They were huge when we were teenagers."

"I was never into that whole superhero shebang and you know it, Nerd! Anyway! Remember how I told you I would go to their house and talk to my doppelgänger?"

"I do." Simon yawned. "So you went there. Tell me what went wrong." He had reached a nearby park and suddenly realized that his legs wouldn't carry him for much longer, so he sat down on the nearest bench and let out a shuddering exhale. "Nathan?" Now there was worry creeping into Simon’s voice. He couldn't deal with people being worried. He wanted to make fun of the situation, be comical and funny and light-hearted as always but the proper words wouldn't come.

"Nathan, talk to me."

"My Mum is such a bitch." Nathan finally managed to get out through gritted teeth. He could feel his bottom lip trembling so he bit down on it. His eyes were burning with unshed tears. Just half an hour ago him having a doppelgänger had still been funny, right? There was nothing funny about it anymore.

**-End of Chapter 2-**


	3. Chapter 3

For the first time, Klaus felt bothered by Ben’s hovering. He really didn't like the worried eyes his brother cast on him as he sat in his room on his bed and felt more strongly than ever the urge to go out there and find a friendly dealer to give him something. Anything would do. He didn't care right now. He just wanted something to take the edge off, something that would help him forget what just happened, something that would numb his emotions. 

There was a knock on his barely closed door and he knew, before the door could swing open the rest of the way, that it was Diego on the other side. Who else would come after him apart from Ben? His big brother didn't disappoint as he let himself in without waiting for an answer to his knocking. And while Benny just sat on his desk and stared at Klaus without a word, Diego took one look at him, bridged the distance between them, sat down on his bed, and pulled him into a tight hug. 

His brother had never been a man of many words. He could easily forgive that when Diego just gave him what he really needed in a situation as this where everything seemed to fall apart around him and when there was just nothing he seemed to be able to do about it. He realized how much he had needed for his brother to hold him like this only now as Diego wrapped him in his arms and leaned his head on top of Klaus’ curly mop of hair.

For a while, the brothers just sat there in silence like this with Ben staring and the door wide open. Klaus tried not to sob too loudly and Diego pretended as if Klaus wasn't soaking his shirt with his tears right now. Sometimes he was glad that Diego was such a macho man who had such a hard time dealing with emotions - especially if said emotions involved tears. 

"It’s stupid" Klaus muttered after a while and his voice sounded hoarse while his throat felt like he had tried swallowing sandpaper. "I shouldn't react like this … I shouldn't be surprised. It's just one more thing Dad lied about, one more thing Dad kept from us." 

"You have every right to feel hurt and saddened by it though." Diego sighed quietly. "You grew up not knowing that you have a twin, after all. If it was me … I would be furious. I would be bawling my eyes out and I would probably start a fight with someone. I’m sorry for what I said this morning. I didn't know … I was an asshole. I should’ve listened."

His first instinct was to forgive Diego but instead, he gently nudged him in the shoulder. "Yeah, you should’ve." He muttered quietly and finally untangled from Diego who still pretended that Klaus’ eyes weren’t puffy and red. "But I get it. I wasn't the most reliable source in the past. I made many dumb mistakes and acted like a complete asshole. My life was a dumpster fire and let's be honest, it's just a matter of time until I relapse." 

"No, it's not," Diego said, conviction clear in his eyes as he held onto Klaus’ narrow shoulders with his big, calloused hands. "And even if you relapse, we can work through that shit together as a team - as a family. I was just so angry when I thought that I had seen you in the city doing drugs again and only for you to be acting as if nothing was wrong. I felt betrayed. I see now how stupid that was of me." 

"Not stupid at all." Klaus sighed in defeat. He felt drained just from crying. "Of all the people I fucked over those past years, I treated you the worst, after all. I betrayed your trust so often in the past. You are wise to be careful."

How often had he stolen from his favorite living brother? How often had Diego come to pick him up at the hospital or treated his injuries or bailed him out? He had fucked up so much of his own life and of Diego’s life with his addiction and yet here his brother was, still believing in him, still treating him like someone who was worthy of his love and affection. It was almost cruel of him to play along and indulge Diego like this. 

"Still, I’m sorry." Diego squeezed his shoulder - another one of those very manly gestures that should convey that he cared before Diego let go of him at last. "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap, I guess," Klaus replied quietly and looked at Ben who gave an encouraging nod from the sidelines. "I mean … I have a twin brother! I have someone who shares my own DNA and … and Pogo just dropped this bomb on us like it was nothing. And I … I fucking killed my mom? It's all just … It's…"

"It's a mess," Diego mumbled quietly. "It's a big, fat, ugly mess."

"I don't even know how to talk to that dude. And he … I can't imagine how he must feel, right? At least I always knew that I was adopted." He paused at that thought. Poor Nathan. He must feel even worse than Klaus did right now. Surely, he was confused and afraid and mad and heartbroken. "Fuck … I shouldn't have run off. I … I should’ve been there for Nathan, right? I was … Fuck, I’m always so fucking selfish. I’m such a coward." 

"Hey!" Diego’s hands were on his shoulders again to turn Klaus back towards him. It was Diego’s way of grounding Klaus in the moment. It was something that they had discovered to be helpful for Klaus when he had one of his panic attacks or back when he had fought against the withdrawal and when his skin had felt like it was burning off. Through the pain and the fear and the confusion, Diego had found a way to ground him in the moment and take stock of himself and his surroundings so that he wouldn't get lost in his own head. They were using this technique for Vanya too. It seemed to work much better for her, though. "Hey. No, snap out of it, Bro. Yes, Nathan was probably just as hurt and confused as you are now but that's not important right now. Take stock of yourself first. You can still take care of Nathan later. Remember what we talked about four months ago?"

"I can't always distract myself from my own problems with the problems of other people."

"Yes. Stay with yourself for now." Diego’s voice was stern and his eyes hard but there was a certain kind of gentleness in them that Klaus knew only from Diego. "Listen, I love how kind and caring you are, Klaus. You are the gentlest and most considerate, sweet person I know but right now this isn’t doing you any favors. You are allowed to feel like you feel and let it all in before you take care of anyone else." 

"I know" He took a deep breath to steady himself again. "I know, I know. It's just … I don't know how to deal with the situation … or with him. I have a twin brother, Diego. I have … I have a twin." He felt like he was about to hyperventilate. "And Dad stole that from me- from us. And I … What do I do?" 

"Take your time." The reassurance came naturally and Klaus felt already a little more at ease just because he was not alone to deal with it. "You don't need to talk to him right away. You don't need to bond with him right away. He’s a stranger to you and well, blood isn't what necessarily makes a family, right?"

"I guess you’re right, Baby." Klaus sighed and forced a little smile onto his face. Diego was right. Blood was not always thicker than water and blood was not what made a family. His siblings, adopted or not, were his family. "And you will always be my big brother." 

"Idiot." Diego mocked and gave a smooch to his temple. He should better not tell Diego that Ben had seen that. "So what do you think? Ready to go back down or would you rather stay up here a bit longer? And, hey, both is cool, okay?"

"No, I think I should be a big girl, huh?" Klaus muttered quietly. He didn't feel much better but at the very least, he didn't feel like he was on the verge of a panic attack either right now. "I mean, he’s just some Irish weirdo and I am the incredible Klaus Hargreeves! Hey, do you think he can really do magic?" 

"He’s an Irish Leprechaun,  _ of course,  _ he can." Diego laughed, ready to indulge Klaus and his coping mechanisms as long as they had nothing to do with drugs or alcohol. "Shake a leg then, Sis, because I’m afraid Five will murder him."

"He can’t kill him, though. He’s immortal. Like a cockroach." Klaus slowly left his room with Diego. "It's weird though, isn't it? It's not just me, right?"

"No, it's freaky, Dude!" Diego laughed. "Like, he sat there and looks exactly like you but the sounds that come out of his mouth and his posture and the way he dresses and … it's all wrong!" 

"You hate the way I dress."

"I hate the way he dresses more." 

"You think one of us is evil?"

"Is that even a question? He’s  _ clearly  _ your evil twin, Bro." 

Together, they reached the living room where his remaining four siblings still sat and waited for his return. Clearly, he was not the only one shaken by the latest developments. Allison was the first to get up from her seat as he and Diego entered the room. Nathan, he noticed, was absent from the room. He didn't get a chance to ask about that, however, as Allison quickly rushed over to him to envelop him in a tight hug, followed by a kiss to his temple. 

"Are you okay?" She whispered, her vocal cords still sensitive after Vanya’s attack on her four months ago. 

"Yeah … getting there." Lying came naturally to him but since they came back together as a family, he was actually putting up an effort into being honest to his siblings about how he felt no matter how uncomfortable it was for him and for the others. He knew that he couldn't fall back into his old behavior for the sake of everyone but right now it was just easier. "Where’s Nathan?"

"He was pretty shaken up," Vanya explained softly. "He left to gather his thoughts, I guess. He’s staying at the Hotel Icarus near the theater if you want to talk to him." 

"I’m not sure if-"

"Hey, you’ve got time." Luther smiled encouragingly. The big guy really was putting an effort in but it was still a little weird how adamant Luther always seemed these days to take care of his siblings and actually be a supportive big brother to them all. The incident with Vanya in that cell had changed their brother for the better. Even though things hadn't been all sunshine and rainbows right away, he had learned his lesson from that. It had been a wake-up call for all of them that Vanya very nearly killed their sister. "No one says you need to rush anything, right? Take your time. This was huge and you need time to understand it all, that's cool."

Slowly, Klaus sat down on the sofa where Nathan had been sitting earlier and sunk into the cushions like he wanted to be swallowed by them completely.

"That was so fucking weird. And he sure does talk a lot! Do you think that guy has any kind of filter?"

"You know" Five began. "After meeting Nathan, or  _ alternative Klaus,  _ I have gained a newfound appreciation for you, Klaus." 

"Why thank you, old man." He smirked and put a hand to his heart in mock surprise. "You are getting sentimental with age!"

"Jesus! Just imagine growing up with that guy!" Diego said as he fell into the sofa cushions next to Klaus, sitting maybe a bit closer than would be strictly necessary. Even though Nathan was gone now, Diego still seemed eager to stay close and protect him if absolutely necessary. "That would have been a disaster!"

"The worst thing about it would have been that we wouldn't have been able to kill him." Five scoffed. "In fact, we would probably have accidentally killed Klaus instead. Apropos, I was wondering, now that we know the truth, isn’t it odd that you seem to have the same powers?"

"We don't," Klaus muttered. "He can do magic."

"He’s immortal."

"I’m not. Not  _ technically _ , at least." Klaus shrugged. There had been so much they had needed to talk through when they first got over the whole apocalypse thing with Vanya and that asshat Harold Jenkins. It hadn't been easy, either. Many uncomfortable conversations - including the one where Klaus had begrudgingly told his siblings about the rave, about the furry, and about being killed without Luther noticing it. "I’m immortal only as long as God hates my guts."

"He can see ghosts, just like you."

"If he would see ghosts  _ like I do _ , he would not have stepped into this house without starting to scream at the top of his lungs. And he would certainly not have been sitting right here as if everything was fine." He huffed and ignored how uncomfortable his siblings suddenly appeared to be. They didn't like it when Klaus would say something that would allude to the fact that there were ghosts around them - other than Ben. So, he kept his mouth shut about the guy hanging from the chandelier or the lady by the window carrying a shotgun. "No, I think it's more selective with him. Anyway, what are you getting at?"

"I think that the way you were born has something to do with your similar powers. You were both tied to death right from the start."

"So? Am I supposed to feel better about that now?"

"No, listen!" Five groaned. "I read the old man’s journal, right? He expressed the idea that you were meant to have different powers and maybe you  _ do  _ have different powers but the ghost-thing suppresses that." 

"Different powers? Like what? No … No, I think what you see is what you got. I’m a human Ouija board, Baby, and that's it." Five didn't look pleased about his answer but that was just Five, right?

※※※※※※※

It was late and the sun was already setting when Nathan Young sat in the hotel bar. A drink of cheap Whiskey that reminded him of the drinks he mooched off of Curtis and Alisha back in the day in front of him, he stared down at his phone as if it held any kind of answers. Maybe he secretly hoped that Simon would call again to figure things out with him. Sometimes it seemed his nerdy friend had all the answers to life figured out already while Nathan kept stumbling around aimlessly. Maybe he also hoped to get a call from his mum after the very rude message he had written to her earlier. She would probably not care about him finding out about her lies because her caring about that would entail that she cared about him. 

His thoughts were drawn back to his little brother Jamie. He had been so happy to meet him back then, after he had gotten over the shock of having a brother, to begin with, and then he had died and his father had blamed him for it. Back then he had assumed that his father blamed him only because it was how it usually went for the Youngs. Now he realized that his father had blamed him for killing his only biological child. His father, who had left Jamie, his real son, to be with Nathan and his mother - with Nathan, who wasn’t even his real child. And then Jamie had stepped into Nathan’s life and he had died. He was poison. He destroyed whatever he touched. 

"I know that face." A voice suddenly drawled at his right-hand side. "That face means trouble. It means bad decisions and stupid dares." 

Nathan looked to his side and saw Klaus standing next to him in those god-awful leather pants that were laced on the sides up to his ass while the world outside was boiling. He noticed how Klaus seemed flustered as Nathan looked at him but then their eyes met again over the glass of whiskey in front of Nathan.

"Want one too?"

"No."

"My treat."

"No, I can’t."

"Why? You drove here?"

"No, I’m … I’m sober."

"Bore."

"Yeah, no … remember the drug dealers you talked about? Those who gave you free stuff? They thought you were me."

"So? We all did drugs while partying when we were younger, right? Well, I still sometimes do, I guess." He huffed.

"Sure, sure … but this is different." He seemed uncomfortable - even though Nathan was usually not very good at detecting something like this.

"Are you telling me you are a junkie?" Nathan raised his brows. "Like full-blown? I mean I read that you took drugs and drank too much in those magazines but-" 

"I was." Klaus shrugged. "Except for my family, no one knows how bad it really was - my fall from grace." He couldn't help but notice how Klaus eyed his drink and suddenly he felt a bit responsible for the other young man, similar to when he met Jamie. 

Quickly, Nathan downed his drink to erase the temptation for his twin brother swiftly and without one of them having to talk about it or address the problem. He threw a few dollar bills on the bar, not caring in the slightest if it was the right amount, and grabbed Klaus by the arm to lead him out of the hotel bar. The night was young and the air warm and they both too pretty to hang around a hotel bar with all those boring old farts on business trips to the city. 

"Where are we going?" Klaus asked as they walked through the lobby and towards the front doors of the hotel. A part of him wondered if Klaus might think he wanted to kick him out. 

"Taking a walk?" He grinned. "Do you know any good spots where you can tell me all about your fall from grace?" 

"Sure." Klaus nodded and spared his twin brother a small grin as they left the hotel.

"So you gay or what? I don't have a problem with that, just asking because quite a few guys hit on me. I guess, they thought I was you."

"I don't apply labels to myself." Klaus snorted and Nathan wanted to roll his eyes. What a stupid thing to say that was! Everyone was applying labels to themselves all the time! "People these days are way too obsessed with them anyway. In the end, what does it matter what label you put on yourself? To answer your question: I prefer guys but I have not been very picky in the past."

He remembered a day on the roof of the community center where a fresh-faced twenty-year-old Nathan Young had exclaimed "Gay, straight, retarded, why do we put labels on everything?" as he had been madly in love with his friend Simon. He should call Kelly. In fact, he should send Kelly a selfie with Klaus. She would probably get a stroke when she would see that there were two of him now.

"A shame your party days are over then. We would have cleaned up, Love!" He laughed as they kept walking down the street. "All the guys for you and the girls for me. Hey, I just realized … I'm not thirty yet! My mum made me older than I was, that whore! I have still two months left in my twenties! Oh my God! That will be a huge party, Mate! I mean who gets to turn thirty twice?"

"Cher."

"Savage!" 

They shared a laugh and it felt oddly natural. In fact, talking to Klaus came easy to him even though they had not talked very much at the start of the day when Nathan had been at the academy. Right now, however, it felt like they had known each other forever - as cliché as that might sound. "So, your sisters are hot!"

"Hey! Back off!" Klaus laughed and shoved him playfully. "They are your sisters now too! But yes, they are hot, thank you, I am very proud of them."

"You are such a twat!" Nathan laughed. "But for real, you never wanted to shag any one of them? It wouldn't be incest, right?"

"That's what they said about Edgar Allan Poe and his cousin too."

"Yeah, but they were still blood-related, right?"

"If I would have shagged anyone" Klaus began with a thoughtful expression as he apparently decided to entertain Nathan’s idea. "it would have been Diego. At five years old, I told everyone that I was gonna marry him."

"Well, he is a handsome shark." Nathan chuckled. Just looking at Klaus as he was now, he could imagine him proclaiming to marry that Diego guy as a little boy. He didn't know him very well yet but it seemed obvious that Klaus was much softer, much kinder, and gentler than he was. Maybe it was the way he had been raised. Growing up in such a lavish house, being raised by a billionaire with all the luxuries one could imagine, had probably softened his twin to the world. He wondered if he would be more like him, had he grown up in this house too, with people who actually cared about him. In a way, he was a little jealous. He could have grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth, after all. 

"He is, isn’t he?" Klaus chuckled dryly before pointing an accusing finger at him, his eyes glimmering with mirth. "And keep your hands off of him. He’s my big brother."

"I’m your big brother."

"He was here first though."

"Technically, I was first."

"Yeah, but technically you were not here to either prevent me from or encouraging me to eat dirt when we were four years old."

"I would have made you do so much stupid shit."

"More than I already have done?" Klaus snorted. "One time, I fell down the stairs in Mom’s high heels."

"I glued my mouth shut in Kindergarten!"

"I played competitive hide and seek and got lost in the house. I almost died behind a wooden panel in the attic."

"I threw a rock through the windshield of my probation worker just to keep her from looking into her trunk."

"What was in her trunk?"

"Her dead fiance?"

"I need you to elaborate on that." 

The reached the park near the Icarus theater and Klaus directed them to a bench. Aside from a few people taking a lazy stroll, there weren’t many people around right now. Not that Nathan would have cared much. He had talked openly about all of this right underneath security cameras at the community center, after all! If he hadn't been caught yet for the murders, he wouldn't be. Well, technically, he had not killed anyone.

"So funny story-"

"You killed your probation worker’s fiance?" Klaus asked with one raised eyebrow. He didn't sound too judgemental, though. Odd. 

"No!  _ Technically _ , I didn't kill him! I just helped dispose of his body and I was there when he was killed."

"That hardly makes it better."

"Anyway, remember that freak storm I talked about? The one from which we got our powers? Well, seems like I had powers all along, huh?" He grinned at his brother. That was another thing he needed to tell the rest of the ASBO five soon. That would wipe that grin off of all their stupid faces. "Anyway. That was on day one of our community service and our probation worker got hit too. He became feral, Mate! I tell you! He killed one of our group and then he tried to kill all of us. Well, it was chaotic! He ended up with his head bashed in by Kelly and we had to get rid of his body because who would believe a group of misfits like us, right? Well, turned out the next probation worker, a real stuck up slut, was his fiance and tried to find out what we did to him. My friend Simon accidentally killed her then after she found out so we dumped her in the lake."

"Okay," Klaus drawled. "You definitely take the cake for doing stupid shit."

"If by doing stupid shit you mean being a good and supportive friend, yes." Nathan grinned and was happy to see that Klaus actually echoed that same grin. A part of him had been concerned about how Klaus might react to this story. He slowly started to realize, however, that his brother had experienced his own share of weird shit. His brother. What a weird thing to think that still was. It had come easy to him to slip into the role of the big brother for Jamie and, to his surprise, it didn't seem to be too different when it came to his relationship with Klaus either. "So, what’s this numbers for names crap about?"

Klaus sighed as he leaned against the wood of the bench and allowed his eyes to wander. "Our dear papa thought it too much of a hassle to actually name the seven of us after he bought us from our mother's or from wherever he got us. In the news, they said he adopted us, but  _ buying  _ is the proper word for what he did. He bought us like fucking kettle and named us accordingly. I’m Number Four because I was the fourth collected."

"Yeah … but not legally, right?" Nathan smirked. "I mean, your legal name is not Number Four Hargreeves." 

"Yes, legally." Klaus chuckled and Nathan felt his smile freeze on his face. "Dear old daddy had the proper connections so that no one would make a fuss about that shit and it was all played up for the public. The people thought the numbers were code names to protect our real identities - which was stupid since there are not many superpowered families around, I would assume, right? Our normal names we got from Mom for our tenth birthday. Except Five. Five was always too cool for school. Old geezer. So what’s that magic thing about? I mean you really sold immortality for basic magic tricks?" 

Nathan stared at his brother for another moment as he tried to understand what Klaus had just told him. His brother’s name was actually Number Four? What kind of fucked up person would give their children numbers for names? He thought about his mother for a second there. He wondered how life would have been for him if things would have been different with his mother from the start and if his dad had never left them.

"I always wanted to be a magician!" Nathan huffed after he regained composure. It was obvious to him that Klaus didn't really want to talk about his father and the names. He wanted to distract Nathan with something more light-hearted and Nathan was willing to provide. "Didn't you?"

"Well, yeah but- I mean what kind of magic are we talking about here? Like making bunnies appear or something?" He considered making flowers appear but then he just grinned, waved his hands around all theatrically, and pulled a cute beige holland lop bunny out of his jacket to present it to his brother with a flourish.

"No way!" Klaus squealed. "Is this real?"

"Yeah, take it!" Nathan grinned and gave the little bunny to Klaus who gingerly took it in both hands as if it was the most precious little thing he had ever seen. 

"Oh my god, I always wanted a bunny." There was no way one would hear these words and see the way Klaus’ face lit up with pure joy and not be moved by it. Nathan definitely felt warmth spreading through his chest at the sight. He thought about how their relationship would have turned out if they had grown up together. Chances were good that he would have been a horrible brother to Klaus. It seemed so easy to hurt the other guy.

"Yeah, but he is lonely." Nathan shrugged only to conjure a second, identical bunny out of thin air. "Now he’s got a brother."

**-End of Chapter 3-**


	4. Chapter 4

"So I take it you and Nate had a good talk, yeah?" Diego drawled as Klaus returned home and entered his bedroom. His brother sat on Klaus’ bed, apparently waiting eagerly for Klaus to return. He was not even surprised to find Diego in his room like this. A part of him had expected this exact thing to happen as well. It seemed a miracle that no one in this family - especially Diego - hadn’t insisted on joining him or at least driving him and picking him up just to make sure that he would get back home in one piece and, more importantly, still sober.

"What makes you think that?" Diego then had the audacity to point at the two rabbits he held close to his chest. 

"Just a random guess." Diego grinned as Klaus walked over and sat down on his bed with him to give one of the two bunnies to him. "You always wanted a bunny." Seeing his knife-wielding brother with a fluffy little bunny-rabbit in his giant paws was too precious not to take a quick photo of it. Diego didn't even notice so entranced was he with his new fluffy friend. "What's their names?"

"Oh … Uhm … Stuart" He lifted the bunny he still held. "And … Stuart? What? Don't look at me like that! They are identical."

"So we should call Nathan ‘Klaus’ then too, huh?" Diego shot back. "They are still individuals,  _ Nathan _ . Or do all Mexicans look the same to you too? Are we all Diego to you?"

"They are bunny rabbits!" He laughed at his brother’s outrage.

"I name this one Charlie."

"You can’t name  _ my  _ bunnies!"

"You just heard me do it, right Charlie?"

"Did you just steal my bunny?"

"Maybe." Diego grinned and startled another laugh from Klaus. "So how was it? Did you find some common ground?"

"He’s a weirdo." Klaus shrugged. Unlike Diego, he had never had a problem finding the right words for any situation - except for right now. It was hard for him to describe what he felt when it came to his twin brother. After all, just this morning, he had not even known that he had a twin brother. "I like him a lot. It's still so weird, though, all of this. But we talked a while and it was … nice."

"Is he a lot like you?"

"I don't know." Klaus sighed as he leaned back against his pillows and gently stroked the fur of Stuart now that Diego had annexed the other Stuart. Well, that was just what it was like having siblings. "But I think he struggles a lot with all of this. Maybe more than I do. No, definitely more than I. I mean, I’m used to Dad being a lying bastard, right? To him, this is all new and crazy and his mom doesn't even seem to care. At least she has apparently not answered his messages yet."

"You should ask him to stay here," Diego muttered. "That hotel he is staying at is pricey and you can spend more time together if he stays here instead." 

"You just want to keep an eye on him because you have a hero complex and already see him as another little brother, huh?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh." 

"Well, I mean … he seems troubled." Diego gave in and that was as good an answer as any. There was a reason why Diego had wanted to become a policeman, after all. Diego liked helping people, not just as a part of the Umbrella Academy. It was his mission in life to help others. It was easy to prey on Diego’s inherent need to protect and defend others as well. He saw someone struggling with anything, he would be out there helping that person. "Maybe more troubled than you are and that says something. No, but … he’s your twin. That means, he’s our brother now too. He’s family. We should all get to know him, maybe help him figure everything out." 

"You are just the biggest softie on earth, you handsome shark you." 

※※※※※※※

Spending time with Nathan was odd. There was no other word for it. It felt like an episode of the Twilight Zone. Nathan’s brain was truly marvelous. One weird thought always seemed to race another for dominance and he was unable to not voice any of these thoughts out loud either. Talking to Nathan, Klaus truly wondered how Reginald would have coped with someone like his twin brother. Either, Reginald would have managed to bend Nathan to his will - i.e. break him like he broke Klaus - or he would have gone insane through Nathan’s constant chatter. There seemed no other possibility, no in-between.

"What are you thinking about?" Nathan grinned as they sat on that same bench in the park again. He had asked Nathan to meet him there and later they could pick up Vanya from her orchestra rehearsals. 

"I’m thinking that Reggie would have hated you." Klaus huffed and at Nathan’s confused look he added: "Don't get me wrong, that's a good thing."

"I take it you didn't have the best relationship with your old man then?" He grinned that Cheshire grin again. "Me neither. My Dad always forgot my birthday - I mean, of course, he did. It wasn't even my birthday as I know now. Anyway. One time, he had already left me and Mum, he wanted to celebrate with me. It was my eighth birthday and he took me to IKEA because he needed new furniture for his bachelor pad. He bought so much stuff that there was no room for me left in the car, so he drove off without me. I ate Koettbullar with a local convicted pedophile because that guy had more compassion and kindness for me than my old man."

"My Dad used to lock me up in a mausoleum for hours, sometimes even days from the age of eight until I turned thirteen and started doing drugs to numb my powers." 

"My Dad didn't tell me he had another son and when I met my brother, Jamie had kidnapped our dad because he was such an asshole and put him in the trunk of his car."

"As much as I’d love to play ‘My Dad is worse than your dad’ with you, I would win, Natie." Klaus chuckled. "Every time."

"I don't believe that."

"Okay so … I can see ghosts right? But not like you. They are there all the time and they are loud and they scream and don’t leave me alone, okay? That started when I turned four on the dot and didn’t stop since. So, I was so afraid at night in the dark that I started bedwetting again. And Dad he … Fuck, he didn't tolerate such behavior. To him, this was just me being disobedient, not me being a four-year-old little boy being literally tormented by monsters. I think it was hard for him and the others to grasp what I was going through because they couldn't see it. And then it got so bad that I didn't sleep at all for weeks until I passed out during breakfast. My brother Diego found a few old fairy lights at that time and he hung them around my bed so that I wouldn't be in the dark. For just this one night I could sleep and everything was a little better. But then Dad tore them down and threw them away. The following night I peed my pants during dinner because I was so terrified of having to go to bed."

"What did he do?"

"He locked me up in the basement for the night so I wouldn't keep the others up all night." 

"Fucking asshole."

"Oh, believe me, there are many more stories where this came from." He chuckled. "The others have loads of stories too. At least we had Mom and Pogo. Dad made Mom when we were four and ever since then, she was the one good thing in our life there, apart from each other. But even that … Well, we weren’t meant to be siblings or see each other as siblings. We were meant to be child soldiers and were always pitted against each other. Diego and Luther’s rivalry still hasn’t really ended to this day. Every day in that house was a constant battle. A battle with Dad, a battle with each other, a battle with our powers, and then with literal gangsters. And he … he didn't care. He didn't love us and it took all of us a long while to understand it. To understand that the way we were being raised wasn’t normal. We were kept from the outside world, literally locked up in that house, no TV, no radio, just Herr Karlson and his stupid lectures about all kinds of shit. We sought refuge in each other." He gave a mirthless little smile at that. "But what friendships we could establish between each other, Dad destroyed - or at least tried to."

"You and that knife guy seem close."

"Diego." He corrected with a huff. Nathan really was bad with names. "Yeah, we always were two peas in a pot. He was always very protective and I was always a damsel in distress, we balanced each other out, so to say. But poor Vanya … You know, Dad let us all believe that she didn't have any powers. He … He was cruel to all of us but maybe Vanya had it the worst. He was afraid of her, locked her up in some cage in the basement, and then fed her drugs her whole life to suppress her powers. Fuck, that almost caused the apocalypse!"

"The  _ what _ ?"

"It's a long story. We can talk about that another time, I guess." He chuckled. "Which brings me to the question: Would you rather stay at the mansion for however long you want to stay here? We have thousands of rooms in that house, more than enough bedrooms and bathrooms for an army, I would guess. So … Yeah. It would be cheaper than a hotel."

Nathan looked at him with an expression that Klaus couldn't quite decipher but that was also oddly familiar to him. His brother, who was usually all smiles and cockiness, suddenly seemed a bit startled by his offer. There was a vulnerability in his green eyes that Klaus had seen in his own reflection in the past, a fear of rejection perhaps. 

"You want me to … stay at the house? Live there?"

"Yeah, I mean … I don't know what your plans are for the time you are here in the U.S. or here in the city but I mean … as long as you are here … I would like to spend more time with you. And the others too. They are so curious. When I came home last night, Diego was literally waiting for me to return to ask me about everything. You are … family." Nathan’s eyes became huge at that. He looked like a deer in headlights or a wounded animal and  _ that  _ look Klaus definitely knew. He didn't need for Nathan to tell him what he was thinking either. He knew and Nathan surely didn't know how to articulate these feelings anyway. "You look like no one has ever offered something like this to you."

"Because it's true." Nathan huffed and dropped a bit of his usual bravado to allow a glimpse behind the curtain, if only just. "People are usually not very fond of me. I’m loud and obnoxious, I have no verbal filter, I am rude. The only two people who generally managed to stay around me for longer were Kelly and Simon. But Kelly whacked me when I got too much and Simon is just a masochist." 

"Luckily for you, I too am a masochist." Klaus laughed. "So … If you want to stay with us … we would love to have you."

※※※※※※※

"What are you going to do?" Simon’s voice was calm over the phone, even though Nathan had woken him up out of his slumber yet again. It seemed there was little that could make Simon Bellamy actually mad at him by now. Nathan had tried a whole shit ton of things to get under his skin, after all. "About the offer. It sounds nice, right? And you could save money."

"Yeah" He sighed. Money was not usually on his mind. Of course, it was nice to have but he had always been able to weasel his way through life without much money. He had lived at the community center for a year, after all, surviving on vending machine food and not once paying for it. Having magic at his disposal actually came in handy when it came to money, though. He could not outright magic money into existence for some reason but he had other means of getting around that problem now. "Too good to be true, right?"

"A little but do you really think your own brother would want to do something to you?" Simon chuckled. "I mean what's he gonna do?"

"I don't know, man." It could always be a doppelgänger kind of situation - but he didn't say that. "I mean, Klaus seems really cool. I like him a lot - you would like him too. He’s like a much tamer version of me. But I … I mean, I’m not exactly used to people wanting me to be around, right?" 

"You should start getting comfortable with that thought now." 

"You are such a twat." Nathan laughed. "You should come to meet them someday." 

"A whole family of superheroes?" Simon replied. He could tell how excited he was by that thought even as Simon tried to play it cool just now. "Are you sure that would be a good idea? I mean I am a bit weird."

"Finally, Barry! Finally, are you seeing it for yourself! You know what they say, right? The first step to betterment is seeing that you have a problem!" 

"You need to show a photo of you and your brother to Kelly. She will freak out."

"I know! I forgot to take one today!" Nathan huffed before finally, he asked what was on his mind. "Have you seen my Mum?"

"Yeah" Simon sighed deeply and that was never a good sign. "I met her at the shops like you said. It's odd how she’s still going after the same routine, innit? Anyway, we talked a little. I asked her if she had heard from you lately."

"What did she say?"

"Well, she lied." He could almost see him shrug over the phone. "She said that she hasn’t heard from you since you came out of prison a few years ago." 

"I shouldn't be surprised, I guess." Nathan chuckled. "I mean not after what I know now, right? She’s always been a lying bitch, after all."

"Sorry"

"Not your fault, melonfucker." He got a sharp laugh in response. 

"Anyway, I have to get ready for work now. Don't stay up long and go move in with your brother tomorrow. See what havoc you can cause in that house." 

※※※※※※※ 

The next morning started with Nathan being picked up not only by his brother Klaus but also that giant monkey man he had seen at the mansion a few days prior. The brute took Nathan’s luggage, even though it was neither heavy nor much, loaded it into the trunk of the fancy Rolls Royce, and drove the twins back to the mansion. 

"So, I’m guessing there will be a huge party to welcome me into the fold, innit?" Nathan joked as he nudged Klaus who sat beside him in the backseat. It was cute how his twin had slid into the backseat with him instead of riding shotgun with his adopted brother. 

"Uhm … We thought about a barbeque tonight?" The big guy answered before Klaus could, throwing a look in the rearview mirror.

"As long as there’s booze, I’m all in!" Nathan laughed.

"Uhm … about that … We try not to have too much alcohol in the house because-"

"Because of me" Klaus sighed with a fond roll of his eyes, before throwing Nathan a lopsided little grin. There was warmth in Klaus’ green eyes though. "And I already told my siblings that it's stupid. Just because I can’t drink anything doesn't mean you guys can't either." 

"We know that" Monkey-man replied calmly. "but we just want to keep the temptation to a bare minimum."

"You know what?" Nathan interrupted the brotherly quarrel before it might get out of hand. He had seen more than enough situations in which even the nicest back and forth could quickly escalate into something ugly and mean. "That's the nicest fucking shit I’ve ever heard!"

"See?" Luther grinned. "Thank you, Nathan!"

"Yeah! I mean … I don't really have siblings, right?" He paused with a laugh. "I mean I thought I didn't. But I can only assume that, if I would have had any and they would have grown up with me, they would not have been nearly as supportive as you guys are. In my family, we throw each other under the bus! It's kinda like a family tradition, right?" 

"We are trying" Came the voice from the front. "We weren’t always there for each other in the past but we are trying now." 

"Ah, yes … Klausie said your dad was an asshat who pitted you against each other." He didn't miss the way their driver looked in the rearview mirror to stare disapprovingly at Klaus. Fuck. He just should have stayed quiet. "That reminds me of a funny story! So, at one point, people started to realize that there are people with superpowers, right? So, my friends and I and a few others got really famous! So, there was this one weird dude, right? He could do things with milk or something. Anyway … He turned crazy and killed everyone. Good thing my friend Curtis is lactose intolerant and turned back time - otherwise I would now be a vegetable."

"How did our conversation remind you of that?" Klaus chuckled.

"I don't know! My brain works in mysterious ways! I have a gift! My Mum dropped me on my head a lot I think." 

It was then that Nathan realized that he liked making his twin brother laugh. he couldn't quite say why he liked it, he just did. His friends at home would usually just roll their eyes very fondly over his jokes, Simon would sometimes smirk or grin at least but no one ever really laughed about the things he would say. Nathan had learned early on in his life that the fact that he didn't have a filter, made him a nuisance to most people around. It had turned out that people just couldn't really appreciate the ingenuity of his wit and sarcasm.  _ No one likes a class clown _ . Klaus, however, laughed about his jokes, and Nathan relished in that fact. Even Luther in the front gave a little snort at his comment.

"Have you told your Mum already that you found your long lost twin?" Luther then asked. 

"So, funny story-"

"His mom is a bitch." Nathan couldn't help but let out a shrill little laugh. "She doesn’t answer him. Apparently, she doesn’t care."

"Yeah, she didn't take me getting thrown into prison in the U.S. so well." Nathan laughed. "I mean, when I was sentenced to do community work back in the day, she actually kicked me out of the house. Not necessarily because I got in trouble again but she was done with me lying all the time about shit. Not that I lied all the time about everything, right? It was just easier for her to believe that I was lying than facing her own bad decisions and fuck ups. Anyway! When I called her out of prison, after I wasted my first call on Barry, that fuckface, all she said was  _ ‘Yes, I heard about that. Don’t call when you get out’. _ "

"Wow," Luther said from the front and Klaus gently punched his arm. The look on his face told Nathan clearly that he had heard similar things. He thought about Jamie for a moment. It still hadn't become any easier since his death no matter how much time passed and how shortly they had known each other. It didn't matter either that Nathan now knew that they hadn't even been related. It still hurt to have lost his little brother. His little brother whom he thought was just as fucked up as he was - finally someone who understood him. When he looked at Klaus now, he felt that same connection again. And this time it was true. "I’m sorry to say that but I agree with Klaus here … Your mom sounds like a bitch."

Nathan couldn't help but laugh at that. The big guy did not really strike him as someone who swore all that much. It filled him with a bit of warmth to hear him to so now.

"Well, in her defense, I did a lot of shitty things and she believes I did a crapton more shitty things to her. I can rest assured, however, that one day she will be old and in need of help and she will wallow in her misery for treating her only son like a total dick."

"Amen!" He shared a little grin with his twin brother and even though they barely knew each other, he felt oddly at home with Klaus. Maybe it was true what all the assholes on the telly always said and twins really did have this special super-powered bond between them. And yes, thinking back on his life, Nathan had to admit that he had always felt that there was something missing from his life. He had always thought that it was probably just the basics of parental love or a stable home and not a twin but … here they were.

When they arrived at the house it was silent at first. He could hear someone playing the violin somewhere inside that massive mansion and the humming of that robot coming from a room to his right but other than that it was quiet. 

"So … Uhm … We have a spare room for you one floor above where our bedrooms are." Klaus muttered quietly. "How about I’ll show you and if you don’t like it, there are plenty of other rooms. I just thought maybe it would be nice to stay closer together, right?"

"Sounds great, Man!" 

"The only other person on your floor is Five," Luther explained as he was leading the way with Nathan’s luggage in his hands. "And Ben had his room up there as well but he, uhm…"

"He’s dead, yeah," Nathan replied. "Also he’s leaning against that wall and tries to act all cool." Ben winked at him and Klaus just snorted before Ben joined their procession up the stairs. Klaus had told him that Ben was still not used to someone else being able to see him apart from Klaus, so he tended to forget that Nathan could talk to him or could hear him. He seemed like a cool dude, though. Most of Klaus’ siblings seemed quite cool. They had picked up Vanya yesterday and she had been very sweet to them, even bought them donuts at this donut shop they had apparently frequented as kids. All Klaus had needed to do was turn those big puppy eyes on her. 

"So where are the bunnies?"

"Oh, Diego is probably taking care of them." Klaus huffed and Luther snorted loudly before adding: "He’s in love with them."

"Yeah, he seemed like he would be a big softie to me. I mean, all this leather and the knives? Hello? Over-compensation much?" 

"You better never let him hear that." Luther huffed.

"Oh. don’t worry, I can’t die."

"No, but Diego could force you on a smoothie diet like he did with me a little while ago just to punish me." Klaus snorted in response. 

"Nobody can force me to do anything."

"Believe me, Diego  _ can  _ and  _ will  _ force you." 

"Yeah, he has some weird way of doing it," Luther explained. "It's like a power but not a power. He’s just the most annoying asshole you will ever meet."

"No, my friends, that's my official title already. Don't worry, I’ve got this. I mean, I’ve survived Saint Barry trying to put me on a vegan diet for a bit." He laughed. "In the end, he was crying like a baby and gave up entirely. Well then again, maybe he cried because he had just broken his hand and that probably hurt like a bitch."

Nathan tried not to show how amazed he was by this giant mansion as the boys led him up the staircase and further into the house. However, he quickly noticed the change in decor when they walked into a hallway to the left-hand side of the entrance hall. 

"Yeah, the house is weird." Klaus chuckled. "The original house was the entrance hall, you know? Back in the day, it was a factory for umbrellas and over the decades, Dad purchased all the surrounding houses. Cafés, bars, lodgings, and stuff and made them all into the house you see now. So, the academy is actually an entire square block of different buildings all melded together into some Frankenstein monster. It's easy to get lost and there is no coherent floor plan either."

"Jesus."

"Yeah … I mean dad’s quarters are pretty nice! Very old-fashioned and comfortable but you see that he kinda lost interest in decoration when it came to our lodgings. Well, probably because he saw us as experiments and nothing else."

They stepped into a hallway that was lined with cheap linoleum flooring compared to the rich woods and marbles of the entrance hall. The wallpaper was a strange shade of beige but at least the archways were still real wood. There was a staircase leading down and he could see one leading up a bit further down the hall. The narrow hallway was littered with doors leading to different rooms that Klaus quietly pointed out to him. 

"Down the hall are the rooms of Luther and Allison, right next to each other. And here we have Diego" He pointed at a door to his left that was slightly ajar but not open wide enough to see anything. "That’s my room" Klaus’ bedroom door was wide open. His room looked wild even just passing by. "And Vanya." The sounds of the violin were now so loud that they were undeniably coming from the room right next to Klaus’ room. They reached the stairs leading up into what Nathan presumed to be an attic space and found another hallway after they climbed up. 

"That’s Five’s room." Luther pointed out and Nathan almost laughed because whoever had nailed an iron 5 at the door of the teenager had had humor. He was almost certain that it had been Klaus’ doing. "You should always only enter when you have made peace with your life because Five will bury you alive under concrete if you piss him off. And that was Ben’s room."

"It  _ is  _ my room."

"Yes, sorry, sorry!" Klaus sighed as Ben walked straight through a closed door to their right. They reached another door further down the hall and Luther opened it right away to move inside and place the suitcases down. "And that would be your room if you’d like it. Nothing too fancy but you have an ensuite bathroom and we made sure that the bed was okay. Dad, the old fart, never really fixed the beds in the guest rooms so … Yeah."

"Listen, Mate, I slept on a dirty mattress in a community center for a year and I was in prison, and when I wasn’t in prison or the community center, I slept on the couches of friends and wherever else I could sleep at the time. It's perfect."

He was a little touched by the fact that Klaus was so worried about his well-being and about making him feel at home here. He was touched that they had put so much effort into fixing him up a room, in the first place. All of this, their kindness and willingness to accept Nathan into their fold was almost a little much for someone like him who had learned never to expect anything.

"Okay then … Well, make yourself at home. Mom made sure you had everything in the bathroom that you needed and if something’s missing, just put it on the list, okay? So … yeah ...welcome to the academy, I guess." 

He didn't quite know what made him do it. Perhaps it was the flustered way in which Klaus was talking to him or the nervousness that was radiating from his twin in waves. Whatever it was, Nathan quickly pulled Klaus in for a hug and a slap on his ass for good measure.

**-End of Chapter 4-**


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Mentions of child abuse and molestation at the end of the chapter

"So stupid question" Nathan chimed up as he cut up his steak. 

The air outside was comfortably warm, they had lit candles in the yard even though it was still light enough outside while the sun was setting on the horizon. Luther was manning the grill with an apron that Grace had made for him. She had stitched the words ‘I love you to the Moon and back’ on the apron. The rest of them were sitting around the yard on pillows and chairs that they had dragged outside. In the past, Klaus had always wished for an experience like this with his siblings. How much he had truly missed them, he had only started to understand after this whole failed apocalypse thing. While living on the streets, he hadn't allowed himself to feel anything but bitterness towards the others. It had been easier like this. 

"How exactly did you die, Benedict?"

"It's just Ben" Luther corrected with a snort but didn't look over and he didn't sound like he was making fun of Nathan either.

"Yeah, I know, Mate!" Nathan grinned in response. "So how did you die, Benjamin?"

Ben, glowing blue as he sat between Vanya and Five, seemed just the slightest bit uncomfortable at that question. Ben’s death had always been a sore topic between the siblings - even between Klaus and Ben throughout the years. It was something the Hargreeves siblings didn't talk about. Even now when they could see Ben again. Nathan, however, held no such inhibitions towards the topic. Perhaps that was a good thing too. Five seemed ready to poke Nathan’s left eye out with his fork and already opened his mouth to probably throw an insult at Nathan, as Ben cut him off before Five could say anything. Klaus was thankful for Ben’s quick safe there. They all knew how nasty Five could get when he felt the need to use his words as weapons. He was very protective of his siblings, even though the old man didn't like to show it too much.

"Well … We were seventeen and we were on a mission." Ben finally started telling the story, even though a part of Klaus wished he wouldn't. They had a nice evening, after all. He didn't want it to be spoiled by these dark memories. "Everything was pretty normal but then I lost control over the monster and … yeah, well, it kinda tore me to shreds - right in front of Klaus, no less. I was just scared the monster would get him too."

"Oh shit!" Nathan exclaimed. Earlier, Klaus had shown his brother a few of the old training tapes their father had stored in the surveillance room. The thought that their father had watched them with cameras had creeped Nathan out more than Klaus would have expected. Maybe it was just the fact that they were all so used to it, that the thought didn't bother them too much anymore. 

"When we found them" Diego continued in a low voice. "Ben was dead and Klaus covered in blood from head to toe. He was catatonic for days."

"Wow … Now I feel shit for asking." Nathan sighed. "I think the worst death I experienced was when this crazy shapeshifting bitch pushed me on a pipe and made another Nathan shish kebab to let me die very slowly and agonizingly. Then again, being beaten to death on a toilet bowl wasn’t very nice either. So … how did you find out you couldn't die?"

"Well, that’s a lovely story" Klaus drawled. "It involves Luther being drunk and high as a kite, a furry, and the boyfriend of said furry."

"Oh my God! I want to hear  _ everything _ !" Nathan laughed.

"So long story short, Luther was at a rave, drunk and high. I tried to get Luther to come home but he was with that girl, right? Well, her boyfriend wasn’t happy about Luther stealing his girl for sure. So, that guy wanted to beat Luther up with a bat so I jumped on the guy’s back and he slammed me headfirst into the ground. Apparently, my skull cracked and before I knew it I met God on a bicycle. Turns out, she doesn’t like me much. So I’m not really immortal." 

"You met God?" Nathan’s voice had raised a few octaves at the question. He couldn't blame him. It was bonkers. His siblings knew the story already, of course. They had hashed it out numerous times, mostly with Diego getting angry at Luther for endangering Klaus like this and then leaving him there at the rave. Klaus, on the other hand, wasn’t really angry with Luther. He had been drunk and high for the first time in his life. He hadn't known what was happening. 

"She’s a mean little girl." Klaus clarified. 

"Wild!" Nathan huffed. "So, there is an afterlife? Like Heaven and Hell?"

"Yeah, there is. And it sucks. It's all in black and white and I met our asshole of a father and … Yeah, no thank you. No need to revisit that place. I try not to die."

"Well, I would argue you died before" Ben murmured. "You overdosed so often out there that I always thought it was a miracle that you weren’t dead."

"Wow, buzzkill!" Klaus huffed as the rest of their siblings suddenly looked at the twins in horror. "Yeah, I mean it's possible, right? I wouldn't be surprised either. I never went to the afterlife before though." 

Even Nathan seemed a little quiet now at this new revelation about his twin brother’s life. The old feeling of self-consciousness came creeping back on him all of a sudden. Sure, his siblings knew about his past and Nathan too, to an extent at least. He sometimes forgot that his siblings were not really fond of him or Ben talking about Klaus’ past so freely and almost jokingly. To them, it was not a joke and Klaus immediately felt the old need to disarm the situation and make everyone laugh like he usually would. He knew that his siblings liked to blame themselves whenever that topic came up between them. They would say things like ‘I should’ve been there for you’ or ‘I should’ve tried more’. He didn't like it if they would blame themselves for his shitty life.

"Hey, but that's in the past, right?" He laughed. "I can now proudly proclaim that I am four months sober and have never felt this good in my life! Even though the spookies are still a fucking pain in the ass."

"So they are around you all the time?" Thankfully, Nathan quickly jumped back into the conversation. He too was probably a bit uncomfortable by the sudden sullenness of the conversation. Not that this topic would be much better than the previous one.

"Yeah … You can't see them?"

"No, I just saw Ben and … well, in the past I only saw people I knew, right? What are they like?"

"Loud" Klaus shrugged pitifully. "Angry. Most of them look like when they died so … nightmare fuel, right? I mean, imagine being a four-year-old kid waking up to see someone who shot half their head off leaning over your bed. My life is a never-ending splatter movie." 

Diego put his arm around his shoulders without waiting for any kind of invitation at this. What his brother was lacking in the communication department, he made double in his skill to interact physically with others. His body was always able to say what his mouth just couldn't. He had always been like this. Klaus thought it was because of his childhood stutter. Diego was not exactly a tactile person, unlike Klaus, but as a child, he had grown so frustrated with his speech impediment, that he had rather used touch or movement to convey his emotions. 

And Klaus, well, he had been the perfect person to understand him like this. It had helped, of course, that they had been attached at the hips back then. Well, they still kinda were. He wondered if Diego was maybe a bit jealous that Klaus now had a twin. Klaus couldn't help but wonder what life might have been like if Nathan and he had grown up together. Would they have been close? Would he and Diego have still been close? It was a sad thing to even conjure up a world in which he and Diego had not been close - even if it was only in his head. He wouldn't have wanted to miss what he had had with Diego.

He wondered if Diego was thinking the same thing. 

Sure, Ben and he were close too but their closeness had been inevitable after years of Ben being stuck with him. Before his death, they had been close as well but not nearly as close as Diego and Klaus. Ben had always liked to hang with Vanya and Five for the most part. The three of them had been perfect together. A trio of nerds.

"Well, don’t worry, little Bro! I can always be louder than the ghosts!" Nathan laughed and Diego actually snorted at that. "So, am I know the unofficial Number Eight or what?"

※※※※※※※

"I’m sorry for ruining the mood earlier," Nathan said as he was nursing another beer. It were only Klaus and Nathan left in the courtyard now. Klaus was taking another drag of his cigarette, the only guilty-pleasure he was still allowed to have. 

"Oh don't worry, it's fine." Klaus huffed. "I mean it was a nice evening regardless, right? And I mean, how were you supposed to know anyway? Every single one of us carries around too much baggage … It's really hard to have a conversation without triggering one of us in some way. Talking to the Hargreeves siblings is like walking a minefield, Baby. Don't worry about it." 

"I guess that's true for everyone these days. I mean … is it just me or is our generation just fucked up, Mate? Talking to anyone these days is like walking a minefield. All my past girlfriends since I came out of prison had some kind of issue, right?" 

"Maybe that's just your type." Klaus teased and nudged Nathan’s shoulder with his own.

"Yeah, maybe!" He laughed in response. 

"So ever been really in love or just affairs?"

"Oh, there was this one girl back home." Nathan grinned as he was apparently reminiscing about the good old days. "Marnie. She was lovely! We met and hit it off within mere seconds. I even helped deliver her baby, right? So, I really thought we would go to Vegas together, raise Nathan Jr. together and be one big happy family but then the baby daddy appeared and she wanted to give him a second chance. I mean I can't blame her. It was probably for the better, right? Otherwise, she would have ended up in Vegas alone with a baby to take care of and with no money and a husband in prison."

"Husband?"

"Yeah, we planned to marry in Vegas." 

"Geez … you really are always going full speed, huh?"

"It's the game of life, Baby! I mean we are young and dumb and when we are in our twenties it's our duty to do stupid shit! Oh, and then there was this funny story with my mate Simon, right? Some guy cursed me with a tattoo with Simon’s name and I was head over heels for him for two days. Like starry-eyed in love. Afterward, I was almost sad that it wasn’t true. It felt nice. I never experienced anything like that. Compared to you, I was probably pretty tame." 

"Well, I won’t lie, I was pretty wild when I was younger … No even this year. My brain was like an orchestra playing on insane." 

"Are you quoting  _ Big Thief  _ at me here?"

"Maybe." He laughed. "But it just fits my state of mind perfectly. I mean, I started doing drugs when I was about thirteen years old and everything just escalated from there. The last thirteen years of my life are a blur, you know? I left this house when I was seventeen and I lived on the streets ever since. I was homeless and did all kinds of fucked up shit to keep the constant high." 

"You just wanted to keep the ghosts away, right?" He sounded much more insightful as most people Klaus had ever talked to about his powers. Even his siblings, although they slowly started to realize how hard a time he had because of his powers, couldn't fully understand it. Nathan, however, seemed to get it - at least a little. Maybe because he knew what it was generally like to see ghosts even if he apparently only got the beta version of Klaus’ powers.

"Yeah" He sighed and took another drag from the cigarette. "You want to see them?"

"Are there any ghosts around?"

"They are always around. Apart from Benny, I mean." He hated giving in and making those fuckers visible but he had learned that his siblings needed to see to understand and with Nathan it was probably no different than that. Then again, how would anyone understand who had never experienced or seen it?

It took him barely any effort to make the ghosts appear all around him. There weren’t many in the courtyard but at least a handful. There was a young boy who Klaus knew didn't even know that he was dead. He had died suddenly - a hit to his head - and was around since Klaus himself had been his age. He was playing with a ball in the corner of the yard. An old spinster walked around the yard muttering to herself with a hole in her head. Another young man was sitting on a bench close to where Ben’s statue used to be. His throat had been slit and he was just sitting there, staring off into space. The other two kept their distance and Klaus couldn't see them too clearly.

"Fucking Christ!" Nathan exclaimed and almost dropped his beer. "Fuck, Man!"

"Well, they are quite tame, I know-"

" _ Tame _ ?" Nathan replied loudly. "Those are fucking nightmares! Are you saying the others are worse?"

"Yeah. Well, it depends where I am and who is with me. There are a couple that stayed with me through the years and there are a few that are trailing after Five and the others, for example."

"Shit, man!" He muttered. "Why can’t I seem them, though?" 

Klaus made them disappear again before they would perhaps notice that they were visible. "I don't know." He shrugged. "I bet, Dad would be able to tell us. I can only guess that it's because it's not your primary power and just links to your immortality. You died before so you are linked with the other side. Meanwhile, I am walking a tightrope between life and death. I don't belong in either world. That's just how it feels like. Dad once called me a portal to the other side." 

"It's weird, Mate." Nathan huffed. "I wished I had known about you sooner. I mean … I would have known about you if I had been more of a nerd and actually watch the reports about you guys when they were on. Maybe that’s also why my Mum never really wanted me to get into all that superhero shit and limited my TV time so much. I mean, if I would have seen someone who looks like me on TV, I would have gotten suspicious, right? Well, then again, you were wearing masks, right?"

"Do you think you can forgive your mom for not telling you?" Maybe the change of topic would be a bit sudden to other people but Nathan played along just fine. 

"Do you think you could have forgiven your dad?"

"Probably not."

"Listen, I would like to claim it's the worst she’s ever done to me but … I guess that was just the last straw." He shrugged. "She was never much of a mother to me, always put others before me. I guess I understand that now a little better. You see … She once told me that she and dad were already in a bad place relationship-wise before I was there, right? When they got me, she said, she thought their relationship was saved and that everything would be better. A baby as a magical cure for a completely broken and fucked-up relationship. But Dad was still a cheating bastard and Mum was still a nagging bitch after they had me. Back then I thought ‘Well, they wanted to have kids and then Mum got pregnant and they took it as a sign to stay together and work things out’. Sometimes I even blamed myself. I thought ‘If it wouldn’t be for me, Mum would have gotten out of that marriage a lot sooner and wouldn't have needed to suffer so much’. I thought that they stayed together because of me. Sometimes I even thought that I was just not good enough - that I was the reason their relationship didn't work out." 

He paused for a second, his eyes staring across the yard at the spot where the young man was still sitting and staring invisible to Nathan. Klaus had known a lot of young people during his time on the streets who had uttered similar thoughts and worries. Not being good enough, blaming themselves for their parents’ divorce. And, fuck, Klaus knew a thing or two about feeling guilty for shit no child should feel guilty for. 

"Now, I know that I was brought into that marriage to save it and when it didn't work, Mum was frustrated. Frustrated with herself, her life, and with me. Maybe she never wanted to be a mother, I don't know. And I can't ask her all these things because she’s not answering me. I’d like to know if she’d ever loved me. As a child, I was sure she did, that was why I played along and allowed so much fucked up shit to happen to me but now … Now I’m not sure that she ever cared." 

"Tell me about it." Klaus murmured and gently nudged his shoulder. He could tell that his twin brother was carrying around quite the bit of baggage. Even that they had in common. "I mean when it comes to fucked-up shit … I know a thing or two about that as well." 

"Are we playing a game again? Who got the most fucked-up life?"

"I mean, if you want to?" He laughed.

"What's the worst thing you did?"

"Gee, I dunno. I mean … I stole from my family a lot to fuel my drug use." Klaus sighed. He didn't like to talk about his past too much. It was still so very fresh, after all. "You have no idea how many times Diego picked me up when I was at rock bottom and I used him and his kindness and then I stole from him and left, even though I knew he barely had anything himself. I guess one of the worst things I did was cost him his career with the police." 

"How’d you do that?"

"I was arrested for solicitation … It was not a good look for Diego - to have a brother who’s a junkie whore." 

"You did prostitution?" The way he asked felt like a bit of a punch to his guts. His siblings knew about that stuff by now but talking to Nathan like this made him realize that he maybe should have kept it a secret for a bit longer. Even though they barely knew each other, he liked his twin and he didn't want to lose him because of his past. He thought about how Allison had cried when he told his siblings about that. After the apocalypse, they had agreed to no longer keep secrets from each other, to be honest, and talk shit through. It had been rough. Luther had punched a hole in the wall of the living room when Klaus talked about the time he had been beaten to an inch of his life by a John and then left for dead in an alley until someone had found him. Diego had left the house when Klaus had told the story of how he had overdosed once after another beating and how two teenagers had found him lying there in his own sick only to steal his coat and his shoes and all the money he still had on him while he had barely been conscious enough to ask them for help. He didn't want a repeat of that with Nathan. Yet, here they were. 

"Yeah … I mean … I needed money." Klaus muttered and dropped his shoulders. "I tried getting around with stealing shit. I hooked up with a crap ton of guys or girls just to have a place to sleep during the winter months. But when I got desperate … and there were times I got really desperate, I sold myself. I thought ‘What difference does is make anyway?’. Let me tell you: It's a huge difference. But I didn't see it back then. I was too high all the time and I … didn't really care about myself either. I just wanted to be numb and feel nothing, pretend I don't exist, you know? I got arrested for it a few times and then I went to prison for it. Fuck it … I mean … In the end, I had to do on the inside what I had been arrested for on the outside just to survive. A guy like me … I mean … You know what I’m talking about."

"Yeah…" Nathan whispered, suddenly very sullen as he looked at Klaus with an expression in his green eyes that Klaus couldn't quite pinpoint yet. "It's just … it's just that I had my magic tricks to get out of sticky situations." 

"Now you think I am just a worthless piece of shit, huh?"

"What? No! Are you crazy?" And, fuck, if he wouldn't know any better, he would say he sounded offended. "You did what you had to do! At least what you thought you had to do. And I mean, if I had to live with these assholes around that only I could see, I would have become a junkie too! Don't blame yourself for trying to survive. I mean, at least you never lied about being sexually abused!" 

"You did  _ what _ ?"

"Yeah…" Nathan sighed and dropped his shoulders just like Klaus had before. A part of him wished that they had never gotten this deep into the conversation. He wanted the carefree atmosphere from before back. "Listen, I’m not proud about that, right? It's just … Okay, so I was six years old and my parents just divorced. I didn't understand it and I had a hard time at school because of it. I was already an outsider because we just moved to London from Ireland, right? And now I was that kid with the funny accent whose parents had split up. I thought my dad left because he didn't love me. That’s what the other children said too and I believed it. I didn't know that he was a cheating bastard - and even if I did, I would probably still have blamed myself. All I saw was that Daddy left and Mummy was sad. And then she brought home that guy and - fuck, Man. He was such a nice guy. But I couldn't see it then. He made Mum really happy but I was just angry and I didn't understand any of this. I didn't want him to pretend to be my dad, right? I already had a dad, after all."

"So you said he was molesting you?"

"I just parroted what the other kids in school said." He huffed. "They made jokes about this kind of shit. I had heard it earlier on the news or something but I didn't understand what it meant. I just went up to a teacher and I told her that Mummy’s new boyfriend was molesting me and all hell broke loose then. When I returned home that day, the police was there, Mum was having a breakdown and Joey was taken away in handcuffs. That night, my Mum hugged and kissed me and we slept together in her bed and I thought that everything was good and that Dad would come back too. However, everything fell apart when the police questioned me the next day. Since I had no idea what I was talking about, I couldn't keep up the lie and they realized that the accusation wasn’t true. Joey was released but no matter how Mum begged him to come back to her, he left us - of course, he did, can you blame the guy? His life was ruined regardless. Last thing I heard of him was that he went to jail for some other crime because he lost his job and couldn't find employment elsewhere. It doesn't matter if you get falsely accused, I guess. The people only see the accusation and nothing else."

"Shit…"

"Yeah … But I mean, I got my comeuppance for that."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, my Mum’s next boyfriend was an abusive asshole who beat me a lot just for existing in the same space as he. Mum didn't care. After Joey, she was … different towards me and I thought ‘Well, I ruined her life, after all’. At that point, I knew that everything going wrong in my Mum’s life was my fault. However, when the dude slapped her, she kicked him out immediately. Apparently, that was the line in the sand, huh? She was angry with me, I get it. Still, allowing your boyfriend to hit your son? I mean … Now I see how fucked that was but back then I didn't get it. I thought maybe I deserved it for lying. However, the guy after him finally did what Joey didn't do."

"You mean-"

"He was nice too. It was two years later and I had finally grasped that my dad was a dirtbag. But this guy, Tommy, he was a cool dude. I liked him a lot. He was kind and loving and caring. And then he came into my bed one night." He shrugged as if it meant nothing while Klaus felt like he wanted to throw up at the insinuation. "And I … I didn't understand what was happening to me, right? I mean, geez, I was, what? Eight years old? I didn't get it. I trusted him. I thought, Tommy would never do anything wrong or hurt me deliberately. Even though it did hurt what he did to me. Still, even though it hurt and it confused me, he was nice about it and told me that it would be our secret."

"Did your mother find out?"

"I think that she knew from the start, actually. I never said anything and Tommy acted normal. I guess I was afraid that, if she would kick him out, the next guy would perhaps beat me again. What Tommy did was awful and I hated it and was afraid of it but … the beatings from before were worse - at least in my head at the time. The worst thing about Tommy is, that I have so many pleasant memories with him. He taught me to ride my bicycle, we played football together ... We were the perfect happy patchwork family for two years while he was fucking me behind closed doors. Classic, right? And then Mum found another bloke and kicked Tommy out. I mean, thank God she did but … she didn't care about what happened when she wasn’t around. Her own happiness was more important to her. I mean she never said that she knew but … I realized later that she did. It took me a while, though to get it. Maybe it was easier for her to act as if nothing had happened, right?"

"How did you realize what he did to you?" He didn't want to ask and yet he couldn't help it. A part of him wondered if Nathan had ever talked about all of this with someone else before. He couldn't imagine his brother going through all this messed-up shit and never telling anyone. Then again, the shame of what happened had probably led him to keep his mouth shut. That's how those predators were able to run around freely, after all. They preyed on the vulnerable and wagered everything on the fact that the shame would tie their tongues. 

"Oh … A year later we had this course about sexual abuse in school, taught by some police psychologist. The bad touch kinda talk, right? And … I sat in class and suddenly the puzzle pieces clicked. I had a panic attack right then and there. So my Mum was called to pick me up and she was angry because she had to leave work early and got in a fight with her manager. She yelled at me to stop making such a fuss just because I wanted attention. I think I started to hate her right then and there, but I didn't understand it until much later." 

Klaus didn't know what to say to all of this. He just felt off and kinda drained and finally leaned his head on Nathan’s shoulder. His brother breathed out a laugh and leaned his own head against his. 

"I’m sorry," Klaus whispered quietly. He was fourteen again and back in that motel room, hurting all over, not knowing what had happened to him. He was back to strangers shoving him into brick walls against his will. Both of them were equally fucked up it seemed. 

"Not your fault, baby bro," Nathan muttered. "And I’m still alive and awesome, right? Plus you didn't have an easy time either, right? Still, I think I won."

"I think so too." Klaus sighed. "So we established now that Reginald was the worst dad and your mom the worst mother." 

"So it's a tie then?"

"Yeah." Klaus sighed. "It's a tie." 

**-End of Chapter 5-**


	6. Chapter 6

It had been Klaus’ idea. Not that Nathan hadn't had the same idea already. Klaus was just the first of them to express it out loud and thus put it out in the open. He really wondered if Klaus’ siblings would fall for it as the twins sat at the table in the kitchen. Of course, Grace, that perfect machine, couldn't be fooled as she put eggs and bacon in front of both of them and stroked loving fingers through Klaus’ curly hair. 

"You are playing a little trick on your siblings, hm?" She smiled at Klaus who just smirked at her. They had changed clothes, making sure to wear long-sleeves despite the temperatures to hide Klaus’ and Nathan’s tattoos respectively. Now they just needed Klaus to keep his hands down. That should probably not be such a difficult thing to do. Then again, Klaus was pretty animated and talked a lot with his hands.

To Nathan, it was still weird that the mother of this lot was a robot and no one seemed to address that fact or even be weirded out by it in any way. It was just what it was. He had noticed that this Diego guy seemed very attached to her too and wondered if all of this had been part of Sir Reginald Hargreeves’ research as well. Maybe he had written a book or two about attachment theory because it seemed that he had had the prime environment for something like this here and at least one case in which a child had successfully bonded with something other than a human mother on such a deep level. It was almost a bit sad to him - then again, what did he know? Grace was perfect in every sense of the word and better than his own mother by a long shot. Not that this seemed to be much of a difficulty.

He really wished his mum would have called him or at least texted back to him by now. It seemed she just couldn't be bothered. Or maybe she was finally ashamed about something she did to him and rather not talk about it. It was easier to act like it hadn't happened, right? He should know about the things shame could do to a person. He had done many shameful things in his life and even more things that he would forever regret. 

It was funny how Klaus seemed to be the only person he had ever met whom he could talk to about shit like this and actually believe that Klaus understood him. Thinking back on everything he had told his twin brother last night he felt actually good about finally telling his story to someone. He had never talked about it. Not even with Kelly or Simon. His two best friends only new parts of it but not the full ugly truth, even though Nathan was sure that they could put two and two together and that Simon had probably stalked him sufficiently and got a hold of old police files and shit. It was his way of showing that he cared. Odd how easy it seemed to be to open up to his twin brother despite how shortly they knew each other. It was probably just the magic of their twinly bond, he assumed.

"They’re coming!" Klaus hissed as he craned his neck to look through the archway into the main hall. Nathan could hear footfalls. It sounded like heavy combat boots - so Diego then. Only Diego Hargreeves would wear combat boots in the middle of a heatwave. However, if Diego would stumble upon them first they would be busted within seconds. Surely, this knife-wielding psycho would immediately be able to tell his sweet baby brother from Nathan. 

The twins watched Diego enter the room and grunt a greeting before kissing his mother’s cheek. He dropped down on a chair beside Nathan as he was usually sitting next to Klaus and grinned at his mother as she placed his food on the table. Only after he had started digging in, Diego looked at Nathan and then at Klaus again. He could almost see the cogs turning in his head but he seemed to fail to come to a conclusion. 

"What?" He muttered looking back and forth between Klaus and Nathan. "Something's off with you guys. What did you do? Did you barbeque Pogo when we went to bed?" 

Klaus snorted and Nathan was almost afraid that this was already too much of a giveaway. Diego still seemed none the wiser as he resumed eating only to point his fork at them in accusation. "You did something I just don't know what yet but I’m gonna find out."

He wanted to laugh but instead, he shared a look with Klaus and continued eating in silence. The joke the twins shared remained uncovered for a little while longer while all the others filed into the room. Of course, they couldn't fool Ben but he couldn't tell anyone. Besides Diego, no one seemed to notice that something was off about the twins. That was until Five zapped into the room to get some coffee. He paused with an empty mug in his head, staring at Nathan and then at Klaus before rolling his eyes with a snort.

"I see, we resort back to stupid twin-games now." He huffed. "You fool no one with that look, Nate - but I’m guessing it was Klaus’ idea." 

"How did you know?" Klaus laughed as he turned to Five.

"Easy." Number Five shrugged. "Outside it's already a million degrees and it's not even 10 AM. Klaus doesn’t even wear long sleeves ever - not even in winter. If he’s wearing long sleeves in summer there has to be something else going on - like for example that he doesn't want to show his arms. Okay, it's Klaus and that could have a million reasons. But why would  _ you  _ wear long sleeves also? It's too hot! Unlike you don't want to show your arms and why would that be a problem suddenly? Furthermore, none of you spoke because your accents would betray you. Also, I expected you to swap clothes at one point. You are both quite childish." 

"I knew it!" Diego yelled out. "I knew something was wrong!"

"Wait, you didn't realize it?" Five turned to his brother. "Are you kidding me? How didn't  _ you  _ notice?" 

"Shut up," Diego growled and resorted to twirling his butter knife threateningly. 

"Anyway now that this is all settled" Five turned his attention back to the coffee machine to get his sweet sweet bean juice while Nathan bit down on yet another comment about Five being too young to drink coffee because it would make him all cranky later when it was nap time. "we need to figure out what to do about the Commission."

"Why?" Diego groaned and rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. 

"What's the commission?" 

"It's a long story." Luther huffed in response.

"He should know about that stuff, though." Klaus chimed in raising his hand like a child in class. He had had time to observe his brother for a bit now with his siblings and to Nathan, it seemed like Klaus wasn’t used to being listened to by them much. "He’s living here right now and if the Commission is still coming after us for meddling with the apocalypse, he should know what to expect - just in case." 

Nathan was left in his confusion for a few moments longer before Five gave them the long-suffering sigh of an old man with arthritis and sat down at the table with his now full mug of coffee. "You want to know everything?" He turned to Nathan and he nodded without thinking about it. Well, did he want to know everything? Probably not. Knowing too much was never good but what choice did he really have now? "Fine. Because you know what? Maybe you can actually help us."

"Five!" Diego’s voice became a lot sharper now and he was no longer leaning back but resting his weight on the table between him and Five instead. He was actually glaring at the old man, the butterknife in his hand once more. "You are  _ not  _ dragging him into this mess. He has nothing to do with that."

"He’s a wildcard." Five hissed, not budging in the slightest in the face of his brother’s righteous anger. "If the apocalypse had happened, Klaus and Nathan would have never met, right? So him being here now is against what the Commission would want. They might not even know about it. They know us, though, very well by now. But not him." 

"Yeah, I wanna know, Mate." Nathan chuckled. "I’m the wildcard here!" Well, and wasn’t that just what he had always been? Even back with the others from the ASBO five, he had been the wildcard, the most unpredictable of the bunch. That had been their strength as a group - more or less. If it hadn't been for him being unpredictable, his friends would have remained virgins, right? The horror! "Maybe I can help."

Five looked at him with raised brows and Nathan decided that he would shit in the bed of this condescending little asshole if he would dare to look at him like this ever again.

※※※※※※※

"I think we broke him" Klaus grinned as he stared at his twin brother who was still wearing his clothes. Nathan was just staring ahead as he seemingly tried to process the story he had been told. For once, they had stunned the Irishman into silence and that in and of itself seemed like quite the feat. 

"Hey, Nate, everything okay, Bro?" Diego tried and gently shook Nathan by the shoulder. They had relocated to the living room to tell Nathan everything and now his twin sat between Klaus and Diego on the sofa with the rest of his siblings gathered around them looking various degrees of uncomfortable. 

"He went to the moon?" Nathan uttered as he pointed at Luther. "To the real moon? The moon moon?"

"Have you not listened to us?" Five groaned. "Time travel? An organization that supervises time and the events of the world? Time-traveling assassins? The apocalypse?"

"Yeah, yeah time-traveling assassins, pssht! He was on the Moon!" Luther looked surprised before a huge grin started to spread on his face. "Tell me  _ everything _ ! How’s the weather up there? Have you seen aliens?" 

"Well"

"We don't have time for this." Five huffed and Luther seemed honestly disappointed by being brushed off like this when, for once, someone seemed to express sincere interest in what he went through. 

Klaus felt for their moon bear. Now that a few months had passed, he had had time to actually talk to Luther about all of it and had been left astounded by the profound knowledge his brother had gathered about that rock that was hovering above them, ready to crash down on them at a moment’s notice. He had spent four years up there, researching and gathering probes and knowledge that astronauts had never even bothered with. He had so much on it that he would be able to write a book about the moon and it would probably lead to much renown for his brother since the entire world knew about the validity of his mission. He remembered the spectacle when it happened. He had been in rehab at that time and the start of the mission had been celebrated on TV like the first moon landing. 

"We need to formulate a plan of attack just in case Hazel and Cha-Cha come back."

"Didn't you say that Hazel was here to tell you that he was leaving the commission?" Allison chimed up. 

"Yes, but the Handler doesn't really like people leaving on their own terms. I can only assume that they got him in the end - which means Hazel is either dead or he got brainwashed and is now working with Cha-Cha again. It's also possible that both of them have been killed and the Handler will send someone else after us.  _ Everything  _ is now possible." And then Five zeroed in on Nathan. "In fact, it's even possible that Nathan is one of them. What if they sent him to do their bidding? I mean, they had a department that can make new bodies! They offered to make me one! Weird how we never heard of him before-"

"Pogo knew about him." Diego sighed as he slumped back in his seat, annoyance written all too clearly on his face. "Stop it, old man. You are freaking him out. I’m sure you can find something about Nathan in Dad’s notes." 

"Yeah, you go do that, Chum! And I’m calling my friend Kelly and tell her all about Luther going to the moon! She’ll freak out!" Klaus watched how his brother got up from his seat and shimmied out of the living room just like that. He was barely in the hall when Klaus could already hear him yell at someone named Kelly through his phone in excitement. Klaus couldn't help but grin about it. His brother had a way of offending Five that was beyond what even Klaus was capable of. 

"Okay," Five groaned. "Good, I’m gonna look through Dad’s stuff again and talk to Pogo. We have to make sure that Nathan is who he says he is."

"Really, Five?"

"Yeas,  _ really _ , Klaus! Cha-Cha and Hazel had you for two days! They could have brought some of your DNA back to the Handler and made some form of clone to infiltrate us." There it was again, this gleam in Five’s green eyes. He had last seen it in the days leading up to the apocalypse that wasn’t. Five was starting to become obsessed again and Klaus knew how dangerous it could get of Five would get lost in this again. 

"Why would he have been partying in the city then?" He asked with a sigh, hoping to talk some sense into the old man again. There would be no talking sense into him anymore as soon as Five had become too wrapped up in this shit. 

"They are clever." 

"Sure, they are." Klaus sighed and got up. "Anyway, this has been fun. I’m gonna scare this Kelly-girl now." He could understand Five’s fear and anxieties when it came to the commission possibly still being after them. They fucked up the timeline, fucked up the apocalypse and after everything Klaus had heard about the commission, they were not very fond of people messing up their plans. Maybe they had been a bit naive not to think about that danger since April but to suspect that Nathan was sent by the commission was just paranoid, in Klaus’ eyes. 

Then again, Five was maybe rightfully paranoid after everything they’ve been through in the past. Klaus refused to let Five’s paranoia get to him, though. He found his brother in the picture gallery, face-timing his friend Kelly and showing the room to her.

"Jesus, Nathan!" Came the voice over the phone. The girl had quite a thick accent. "You got the short end of the stick there, Mate!" 

Klaus grinned as he stepped into view of the phone’s camera and struck a pose. 

"Oh my God! No bloody way! I was sure you were lying!" Nathan looked behind him and grinned as he quickly got beside Klaus.

"Come on, Kelly! Tell him that I am the prettier one!"

"Sorry, Mate, no can do! He’s clearly prettier!" Kelly laughed.

"Oh, what a fine friend you are!" 

"What?" Kelly guffawed. "I’m just telling the truth! You wouldn't want me to lie, would ya?"

"Of course, I would!" Nathan replied. "What makes you think that I wouldn't want you to lie about that?" 

"Sorry!" She didn't seem sorry at all and Klaus couldn't hide the grin spreading over his face. 

"Just accept it, Man." He grinned. "I’m way prettier." 

"So, Klaus, is it?" Kelly turned his attention on him now. "How are you dealing with Nathan so far? Should I come and take him back home?"

"Oh, I manage! We have a cell downstairs, just in case, you know? We can always just lock him up!"

"That's probably a good thing! Anyway, it was nice meeting you but I really need to get going now! If Nathan misbehaves, just whack him over the head. That's what I did!" She waved and then ended the call.

"So that was Kelly, huh?" Klaus laughed. "The one with the mind-reading powers."

"Yeah, but she changed them a few times, I guess. She’s doing well for herself these days, but she’ll never lose her chav-accent! Imagine her in a business meeting sounding like that!" Nathan chuckled. "She’s a great friend though, took care of me when I was homeless. She cooked me chicken nuggets at least twice."

"Lovely." He huffed and flopped down on the couch his mother liked to occupy to recharge. "So I take it your mother still didn't answer you?"

"Nope, certainly not." He sighed. "She’s always been a coward, I guess."

"Don't worry, she’ll come around." However, Klaus wondered if she was anything like Reginald. Surely, she was no eccentric billionaire type but she sounded like she just might have the same neglectful tendencies as good old Reggie had. If she was anything like his old man, she would probably not come around and Nathan would never get the answers that he was so desperately seeking. 

※※※※※※※

Living under the same roof as the Hargreeves siblings was certainly a bit strange. Nathan was not shy, exactly and it was always great fun to get to know new people and find out where to poke them to make them angry. He learned a few things within his first week at the house, for sure. The little boy, Five, was one paranoid bastard. Every time Nathan would walk into a room occupied by the little devil, Five would look at him as if trying to analyze him. It became obvious to Nathan very quickly that Five was distrustful of him. And not in a normal ‘I don't know him so I don't trust him’ kind of way either. More like in a ‘He might be a lizard person trying to take over the world if I blink’ kind of way. 

Nathan wouldn't be Nathan, however, if he would not take the piss out the little man. He quickly started making a point of behaving suspiciously around him and when Klaus asked about it, he just told him that he was fucking with Five. Klaus, gladly, approved of the mischief and actually played along as well. 

Another thing he learned quickly was, that Diego was a hothead. It was easy to make him angry and even easier to make him throw his stupid knives. The slightest teasing seemed to get Diego to fly into a rage and although Klaus liked to plead with him to not provoke Diego, it was just too tempting for Nathan not to. Klaus and Diego seemed very close. It was understandable then that Klaus wouldn't want Nathan to be mean to his brother. He could see why the brothers were so close too. Diego was someone with a hero complex and Klaus was someone who maneuvered himself into dangerous situations on a semi-regular basis as it seemed. One needed the other. He could imagine that, if they had grown up together, Klaus would have often run to Diego crying about something Nathan would have done to him. What a shame.

Then there was Luther who was so used to being the leader that he seemed to have a hard time letting others take charge. On the same token, however, it had become pretty obvious to Nathan very quickly that Luther was not used to people being interested in anything he had to say. It was easy to make Luther happy. He just had to sit there and listen to him talk about the four years on the moon. Nathan could easily understand loneliness when he saw it and although Luther seemed surrounded by people, he seemed also a little lonely. Maybe this feeling had just spilled over from his time of isolation on the moon or it was due to the fact that the siblings had grown apart in the last thirteen years and had yet to learn to be a proper family.

Vanya was one of the easiest people to be around. She reminded him of Simon a great deal. He recalled the story of how Vanya nearly caused the apocalypse with her powers of which she hadn't known anything about before that freak came around to woo her and pit her against her siblings. She seemed not comfortable being in the spotlight when talking to her family, yet she yearned for being on stage with her violin. He had listened to her practice a few times with Klaus. His brother had told him that the ghosts wouldn't go near Vanya so much when she was playing so listening to her was a reprieve for him. When he had told Vanya about Simon once and about his power, she had just smiled and said ‘I know the feeling of being invisible’. They would make good friends.

The only real pressure point he could find on Allison in the one week he spent with all of them was her daughter Claire and her failed marriage but even to Nathan, it seemed wrong to use that just to rile her up a bit. Other than that, Allison was very indulgent when it came to Klaus. He would make puppy eyes at her, she would roll her eyes, and then she would give Klaus money like a mother would to go get donuts. 

"So, Benjamin Button" He was alone in the living room with Klaus’ dead brother who was sitting on the fainting couch reading a book. He had never known ghosts could read books. "I have a few questions" He then said as Ben looked at him. "Question 1: What did you want to do as a job when you grew up? Question 2: Why are you always reading? Question 3: How the bloody hell are you even doing this? And question 4: do books have ghosts or is this a ghost book?"

Ben rolled his eyes. "To answer your first question, I wanted to become a therapist. Well, I mean I kinda am. At least Klaus uses me like one." 

"A therapist?" Nathan echoed. "Cool! I bet you would’ve been great at that - So hey do you want to play therapist with me?"

"I’m not-" Ben paused and sighed, the other questions forgotten already. "What's on your mind?" 

"Really?"

"Sure" Ben huffed and put his book aside before he got up and moved over to him. "Shoot. I mean, I’m a good listener and as long as Klaus won’t manifest me, I can’t tell anyone what you said." 

"I’m just wondering" Nathan finally gave in. "Do you think I could stay here?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean … I’m here for a week now and … my Mum has yet to answer me, right? I should be able to just forget about her and all the shit she put me through and ignore her like she ignores me but I still think about her every day. And I just wondered where do I go from here? Do I go back to England where I have no family but my old ASBO friends? Do I go back to Ireland where no one knows me? Or do I stay here where I am pretty much nothing more than a parasite."

"You are not a parasite."

"Of course, I am." Nathan rolled his eyes with a lopsided grin. It spoke to what he had assessed about Ben that the ghost tried to make him feel less rubbish about himself. He was a nice, understanding, kind dude. "Just ask anyone I know and they will tell you. I never really did anything useful with my life. I drifted from one place to the next, only parties or girls in mind. I blew the one relationship that could have been something good. And it just seems like I don't belong anywhere. It's weird … until I learned that I was adopted I never felt like this. Sure, my Mum was a bitch to me but I always thought: Well, she’s my Mum. She’ll take me back when I go home. And now I know that she won’t take me back and I wonder if she ever loved me. I was always sure of myself and who I was and now I realize that I have no idea who I am. Is that how all adopted people feel? I mean … do you feel this way?" 

"I did" Ben confessed with a shrug. "When I was alive. Everything is a little duller since I died. But yes, I felt like this and the others did too. Sure, we always knew that we were adopted and that our mothers didn't even know what was coming their way but that doesn’t mean it makes it better. Reginald didn't understand it back then. He said that our mothers were not actually our mothers. Sure, they gave birth to us but it's not like they had actually been pregnant with us, right? It's all a big clusterfuck and knowing where we came from was part of the problem for me." 

"So, I mean my real mum is dead." Nathan shrugged. "And that means I will never learn where I came from and technically I came from … nowhere? Nothing? Just poof, here you go Ma'am, have two random babies?"

"Pretty much." Ben shrugged. "I’m sure the old man has files on our birth mothers but, in the end, what use is that information? We are some kind of cosmic joke. I mean … I mean, I have a portal in my stomach and can conjure Lovecraftian Eldritch creatures into this world! What I am trying to say, Nathan, is that you should not try to find any sense or reason to our existence because there is none. It was a random incident and no one knows why or how. There is the chance that none of us will ever know and we can either spend our whole life agonizing over it or we can move on and actually live our lives. Granted, we had thirty years to get used to the thought of never knowing the reason for all of this. It's still very new for you and it's a shock. You don't need to know how you are dealing with this right away and no one expects you to. And yes, I think you can stay here - if you want to. You are Klaus’ brother, after all. You have a family now. Even if your mom never answers you." 

Nathan was quiet for a moment. He didn't know why but Ben’s composed way of talking and his honesty was actually very calming. He could understand why Klaus liked to have the ghost around so much. It was a damn shame that Ben was dead. He wished he wasn’t. He seemed like a nice dude and he definitely didn't deserve being ripped apart by tentacles. 

"Hey … what is this?" Ben suddenly exclaimed and as Nathan looked at him again, he found that the dead guy was wrapped in some blue-ish hue, similar to when Klaus would manifest his dead brother for everyone to see him. The only difference was that Ben did not look translucent as he would when Klaus would make him visible. He stayed just as solid and he didn't levitate or anything either. He was just sitting there with his book in hand, wrapped in blue light and, if Nathan wouldn't know any better, he would say that Ben turned even more solid than he normally appeared. 

"I don't know!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Aren't you doing this?"

"No! What? How would I be doing this?"

He felt kinda drained. He felt like there was a part of him seeping out of his body - like as if his soul was actually being pulled out of him. He could almost see it. There was a link between him and Ben it seemed - a tendril, like an umbilical cord and it was pulsating with blue light. He wondered if Ben could actually see what he was seeing. Whatever it was, Nathan was unable to stop it. He was helpless against it. And while he seemed to become weaker, Ben seemed to take clearer shape. 

He looked almost alive now as if Nathan would be able to touch him if he would just extend his hand and while Ben became more and more alive Nathan felt like he was becoming a ghost. His entire existence seemed to fade out. He felt himself become less and less real, less, and less tangible. He was certain that he would pass right through the couch any second now. 

Dark blotches started appearing in the field of his vision. He could see darkness creeping up on him. It felt like the one time this guy in prison choked him out. It was a slow process, agonizing. He could hear Ben yell something at him but didn't understand the words. Then, suddenly, the ground rushed towards him and darkness took hold of him.

**-End of Chapter 6-**


	7. Chapter 7

"HELP! GUYS! HELP!" 

Klaus was probably not the only one recognizing the voice yelling at the top of their lungs as Ben’s. The only thing that eluded his understanding about all of this was just the fact that the others seemed to be able to hear Ben as well while Klaus was doing nothing to make his dead brother visible at the moment. He couldn't feel Ben tapping into his energy either. Something weird was going on - apart from Ben screaming for help. 

When he heard the screaming, he was out in the backyard with Luther. The big guy had started a new pet-project, which was trying to set up a vegetable patch and Klaus had promised to help him. The rest of the gang was, as far as he knew, somewhere inside doing their own thing. He jumped at the sound and exchanged only a glance with Luther before they dropped everything and rushed back inside. Klaus was quicker than his tank of a brother and he didn't really think about the danger he might be rushing into right now. It was all too possible that the commission had sent someone after them who was now going berserk inside the house but the thought didn't even cross his mind when he rushed inside. 

Ben’s voice came from the living room and the brothers were quick to reach it. Ben was standing in the middle of the room looking utterly distressed and, at first, Klaus didn't realize that Ben was visible without the usual blue glow surrounding him. His brother looked alive how he stood in the middle of the room by the couch.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know what's happening!" Ben yelled back just as all the others reached the room as well. "He just fell to the ground! I think he’s dead!" 

Klaus felt his heart drop as he walked around the sofa slowly and found his twin brother lying motionless on the ground. Nathan was face down but he showed no signs that he was still breathing and the way he laid there didn't look comfortable either with one arm almost crushed under his own body. Ben held his hands out uselessly but Klaus quickly hurried over to Nathan and fell on the knees beside him. He started shaking the other young man before Diego actually shoved him aside and pushed two fingers into the crook of Nathan’s neck.

"He’s dead," Diego muttered and the siblings exchanged confused looks.

"But … how?"

"I don't know!" Ben exclaimed and stumbled back. He hit the coffee table with the back of his legs and nearly fell. It was then that all the siblings in the room fully grasped the fact that Ben was not just visible but tangible as well. 

"What-"

Five was at Ben’s side in an instant, grabbing his taller brother’s shoulders to make sure they had not just imagined seeing Ben hit the table. Five’s hands did not pass through Ben and more importantly: "You feel warm." Five muttered. Before anyone could say or do anything, Five was jamming two fingers into Ben’s wrist. "You have a pulse!"

"No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do! You are breathing! You are alive!"

"What? No, I’m not, I-" Ben stopped as if he just realized that he was breathing, that his heart was beating. "How- We were just talking! And suddenly … Suddenly something happened and then he fell to the ground like this!" 

Klaus was sure that they all felt the same things: Joy about the fact that Ben was seemingly alive again, confusion about how it was possible that Ben was alive again, and shock about Nathan’s seemingly random death. There was just too much going on and he could feel eyes on him as if he had anything to do with that. He wanted to hug Ben but it was all just too much at once.

"Do you think … he did this?" Allison asked quietly as he pointed at Nathan. 

"How?" Luther argued as Diego made work of picking Nathan up and putting him on the sofa again. Klaus could hardly look at his dead twin. He was immortal. That was what he was telling himself again and again. He was immortal. He would come back to life soon. He was sure of that. And yet he felt horrified by the fact that his brother was dead because what if he was not coming back this time? What if, somehow Nathan had managed to get Ben back from the dead and then died for good? What if, somehow, Nathan had managed to exchange his life for Ben’s?

While his other siblings were hugging Ben under tears and his formerly dead brother still seemed in shock of being alive again, Klaus sat down by Nathan’s feet. He was confused. He was in shock. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to feel. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to think even. He was overwhelmed and he felt bad for not jumping at Ben and hugging him right away. However, Ben, always the most understanding and the most kind of them all, didn't seem to mind. He was seemingly enjoying the affection he got from their other siblings just then.

It was almost an hour later when the others left Ben and Klaus alone with Nathan’s dead body. He was still sitting by Nathan’s feet on the sofa and Ben had taken a seat on the coffee table in front of him.

"What if he doesn’t come back? I mean … how long does this usually take?" Klaus turned to his brother for advice. After all, Ben had always given him the best advice in the past. 

"You mean like … he exchanged his life for mine? Geez, Klaus, I’m sorry - I didn't know what happened and if Nathan might stay dead while I will be alive then-"

"Stop it," Klaus muttered and grabbed Ben’s hand. "He’ll come back. He’s like a cockroach, remember?"

"But if it would come to it and a decision needs to be made-"

"How could I ever decide such a thing, Benny? No. don't be stupid." Klaus wiped a hand over his face. "I’m gonna call Kelly and ask her how long it usually takes for him to come back. How about you go nag Mom for something to eat. You can eat again, Benny! Indulge in all the things you couldn't do! Allow Mom to pamper you! Take a nice hot bath with one of my bath bombs!  _ Live  _ a little, Baby!" 

Ben gave him a lopsided smile and got up from the coffee table before he leaned down and pressed a kiss to Klaus’ temple. It was odd. It wouldn't surprise him coming from Diego but he could only smile back at Ben at the gesture before his brother slowly walked out. He could understand exactly why Ben had kissed him like this. He saw right through his defenses like always. He saw how scared Klaus truly was for his twin brother and how confused and conflicted all of this made him feel. It was Ben’s way of telling him not to worry his pretty little head too much right now. 

For a moment, Klaus remained like this, staring at the face of his dead brother before he shoved a hand in Nathan’s front pocket and grabbed his phone. He had a missed call from a guy named Barry on the display and remembered Nathan talk about him a lot. Apparently, this Barry guy was his best friend or something. Kelly was probably at work. Maybe he should try this Barry dude instead. 

He quickly dialed the number of the guy and held Nathan’s phone to his ear. It rang a few times before the man on the other end picked up. 

"Hey, Nathan!" The man, Barry, greeted. "I was just calling to tell you that I talked to your Mum earlier. I met her again at the shops. She was-"

"Wait a tick, wait a tick!" Klaus interrupted the other man quickly. "It’s Klaus, I’ve got Nathan’s phone."

"Klaus?" The other man asked surprised but he didn't sound confused about his identity. "Oh, wow! Nice to meet you! I’m Simon Bellamy-"

"Simon?" Klaus asked. "But you are saved as-"

"Barry, I know." Simon laughed. "Long story. Where’s Nathan?"

"He’s … Uhm … kinda dead."

"Oh, I see." He didn't sound concerned at all. Well, if all the stories that Nathan had told him about his time at the community center were true then this Simon guy had experienced Nathan dying quite a few times and should be used to it. 

"So … how long does it usually take him to come back?"

"Depends on the death, I suppose. It took him a few days the first time, the second time it took only a couple of hours but both times he had been impaled. The third time was about an hour or so but he had been beaten to death then. How did he die this time?"

"That's the thing, we don't really know. He just …  _ died _ . It's a bit of a complicated story but my brother Ben said that Nathan just fell down from the couch and was dead." 

"Weird, that's definitely new." Simon muttered and after a small pause he suggested: "Poison?"

"No. Our mother … she’s-"

"A robot, yeah he told me."

"So, she analyzed him but she couldn't find any signs of injury or poison."

"So, no heart failure or a stroke or an aneurysm either? Strange. How long ago was that?"

"Almost an hour now."

"Well, I would assume he should be back in the next couple of hours then." Even though the other man tried to sound reassuring, Klaus still picked up on a little bit of worry in his voice regardless. 

"What if … What if he doesn't come back?"

"You mean he died for good this time?"

"I don't know. It's weird."

"Let me tell you a thing or two about Nathan Young," Simon said and he could almost hear the way he smiled just by the tone his voice had suddenly adopted. He seemed to be a very serious guy but right now his voice sounded light, almost even playful. "His only talent in life is to get himself in trouble. He has no control over that mouth he has and rarely thinks about the stuff he says or does. However, he’s one of the very few people I know that I never needed to worry about. Despite all the troubles he got himself into, he always found a way out of it. I mean, it is, of course, possible that he might die for good one day but I really doubt it. Nathan will still be around when we are all long dead and he will still get up to the same shenanigans when he was twenty because this guy will never grow up. He only gets older and hairier."

"So … Okay, that will sound incredibly strange but … he told you about my siblings, yes? About Ben too?"

"The dead one, yeah. I must admit, I was a huge fan of you guys growing up." Simon huffed. "I had all the merchandise. I even had one of the masks that you could cut out of that one magazine." 

"Oh!" Well, that was a surprise. "Well, Nathan said you were a nerd. So, anyway … He’s … He’s alive again. I think. I mean, he was with Nathan when it happened and … Nathan died and Ben is alive again."

"Strange indeed." Simon hummed as if what he said was not at all the strangest thing he had ever experienced. "So, maybe it has something to do with Nathan’s powers? I mean, we thought until recently that his powers came from the storm but either the storm didn't affect him at all because he already had the power of immortality or the storm changed his power in a way."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Well, I guess that it could be possible that … Well, look at it this way, right? His powers and your powers are linked to death, right? He can’t die and you are a portal to the world of the dead, kinda. I’m sure your power does not only work in the sense that you can commune with the dead, right? I’m sure there has to be something else too - that's how it usually is in the comics, anyway."

"I can … talk to them, conjure them, sometimes even materialize them."

"Yeah, but that's how your powers work on  _ them  _ \- not yourself."

"You mean my powers have some effect on me as well?" 

"Probably. Like … I don't know … levitation? Telekinesis? Or can you yourself turn into a ghost? Like can you leave your body?"

"Nope. I’m nothing more than a Ouija board."

"Hm," Simon hummed. "Well, anyway. Nathan’s main power is a power that works on himself first. Immortality. What if there’s another side to his power that works on others?"

"You mean like bringing others back to life?"

"Maybe? Wouldn't it be perhaps possible that Nathan can use his life force to restore life?"

"It would certainly not be the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard. But he said his younger brother died back in the day. Wouldn't he have brought him back then?"

"I doubt that he knew about that. Maybe, if my theory is right, his power only evolved into this aspect recently." There was a sigh leaving Simon at the other end. "Maybe what I’m saying is stupid, I don't know. I mean … it's just a possibility, right? But I have no way of knowing if it makes any sense. Sorry, that I can not be of much help here." 

"Hey, no it's cool." Klaus huffed. "I mean who knows? Maybe you're completely right?"

"I would be surprised." Simon chuckled. "Oh … I need to get going now. Tell Nathan that his mother will be calling him tomorrow when he wakes up and … well, if he hasn't woken up until tomorrow … call me, okay?"

"I will." 

※※※※※※※

He had a headache. That was, as he had come to learn, not really all that unusual after dying. There had been not one time when he came back into the world of the living without thunder clapping inside his skull. This time it seemed ten times worse for whatever reason, however. He felt like he had the worst migraine of his life or as if he had been run over by three trucks and then stepped on by an elephant. His brain was pulsating inside his skull, trying to find a way out through his ears, perhaps.

"Fucking shit man…" He moaned. His whole body ached, he was sore all over as if he had worked out for days - which could not possibly be the case because he would never work out under any circumstances, not even under threats of violence or death! "That fucking sucks, Man!" 

"Nathan?" Oh, he knew that voice but he did not like just how worried it sounded. He couldn't really stand it when people would sound worried whenever they would be talking to him. If they sounded worried it meant that they cared about him and he … well, he had a way of making people regret caring about him in the first place, right? He was not good for other people. In many ways, he was like poison fucking everything up for other people. He should give Marnie a call and tell her that she dodged a bullet.

"I am in desperate need of-"

He smelled alcohol - beer to be precise - and immediately his eyes snapped open. There was a little voice in the back of his head freaking out to know that his twin held an open bottle of beer in his sober hands. Klaus should be nowhere near that shit! He sat up quickly - maybe a little too quickly as the room began to spin a little - and braced himself with one hand on the backrest of the sofa. 

"How did you know?"

"Well, I assume you might have a headache - because I for sure have one - and beer helped against that whenever I came down from something or had a mad hangover in the past. So … cheers." He smirked and handed Nathan the bottle. 

"You think that ‘twin-thing’ is a real thing?" Nathan huffed. "Because I do have indeed a splitting headache."

"Well, maybe … Since I did nothing to deserve that bitch of a headache that I’m having. Hey … did you ever have unexplained pains before? Like, you hurt really bad somewhere without explanation?" 

He blinked at him in confusion for a moment before taking a sip of his beer. "Yeah, sometimes, I guess." He shrugged. "Like when I was … what? Eleven? I sat in class, right? And suddenly my jaw hurt so fucking badly that I started bawling my eyes out! It was so embarrassing but it felt like someone had kicked me square in the jaw! I could hardly eat later but my mum drove me to the dentist and there was nothing going on. Of course, that only supported my mum’s believe that I was a pathological liar." Klaus looked a little taken aback by that for a second before he looked down all sheepishly. "What?"

"I broke my jaw when I was eleven. Remember how I told you I fell down the stairs in Mom’s heels? That was then."

"Oh, you bastard." Nathan huffed out in amazement. "So, okay … okay … listen I felt really sick sometimes without explanation - like I had the flu." 

Klaus shrugged. "Withdrawal?" 

"So since when are you clean?"

"April. Though I had a little slip up in May with vodka."

"Yes, so in late March and April, I just felt like fucking  _ crap  _ all the time! Worst few weeks of my life, Mate! Thanks for that!"

"When was that first death of yours?"

"December 2009."

"And you were impaled on a fence?"

"Like a shish kebab."

"Well … I was high for most of the last thirteen years but I remember feeling something like being stabbed."

"You cried like a baby and screamed your head off about something being stuck in your chest." Another voice joined their conversation. In walked Diego with two glasses of coke in his hands. He handed one to Klaus and kept the other for himself before extending a hand and putting it on Nathan’s forehead. His skin was nice and cool from the ice cubes in the glass he had been holding for Klaus. "I remember that night. You called me from somewhere in the bad part of town all hysterical because you were sure someone had stabbed you. So, I got out of bed and drove all across town to get you to the hospital only to see that nothing was going on." 

"Yeah, now I remember."

"What are you two dinguses going on about now?" Diego sighed and sat down on the coffee table in that very much macho-Diego-kind of way only he seemed able to muster. It was like Klaus had said before, however. Diego really did have a marshmallow core. He was caring and sweet, even towards Nathan, although he tried not to show it as much. Nathan had observed how sweet Diego was with Klaus, however. He always made sure Klaus ate and drank enough, that he was rested and took care of himself. He was pretty much a mother hen beneath all that leather and the knives.

"The twin thing," Klaus explained. 

"The  _ what _ ?" Diego almost sounded offended by that term. It wouldn’t surprise Nathan if he really was offended. 

"So, when one twin gets hurt and the other one feels it."

"Well, if that's true then Jesus Christ, poor Nathan, right?"

"No, poor Klaus!" Klaus exclaimed with a laugh. "He keeps dying all the time!"

"All the time is a bit much."

"Really? How many times has it been this year?"

"Including today? Twice."

"What?" Klaus exclaimed. And, sure, he guessed for a normal and not immortal person that would be much. For Nathan, dying just was normal by now. The universe had it in for him, apparently. He was like God’s punching bag or something.

"Yeah, I was run over by a car in January." 

"I rest my case." Klaus scoffed. "Poor Klaus." 

"How are you feeling?" Diego turned his attention to Nathan. It was odd to him to be at the receiving end of someone actually worrying about him.

"Apart from the splitting headache? Good, actually."

"So … What happened?"

"I don't know, Mate. It was bloody weird. I was just talking to Casper and something weird happened. I started to feel weak and shit, as if he was draining my energy completely and then ... I guess, I died?" He looked around but could not see Ben anywhere. "Where is Peeves anyway?" 

"About Ben-"

He felt his stomach drop just by the way Klaus said those two words. Never in the history of mankind had something good followed the words ‘about so-and-so’. "Fuck, don't tell me he’s gone or something! I swear I didn't mean to do anything - It just happened. Whatever it was."

"No, he’s not gone!" Klaus quickly said. "That's the point. He … Uhm … He’s alive?" 

"He’s what?"

"Yeah, he’s alive!" 

"No way!" Nathan blurted but both brothers nodded in return. "Do you think I did that or what?" Maybe it was a bit of a leap of him to jump to that conclusion already but, then again, who knew? Maybe it wasn’t such a leap after all. 

"It's a possibility." Diego sighed. "We have no idea what happened but … Well, you were with him when it did happen and so … It's a possibility." 

"So, where is he now?"

"He’s in the kitchen. I told him to eat something and he didn't stop since." Klaus laughed. "I guess he will very soon start puking his guts out. Serves him right. He now gets to experience what he made fun of me for feeling all the time. I hope he suffers."

"Don't worry" Diego replied with a smile that bordered on being sinister. "He will."

It was later that same day, actually that night, when Nathan was sitting beside his twin on the roof of the academy. The day had been quite something for sure. Ben was alive, he could apparently bring people back from the dead, and the siblings were showering him with gratitude for bringing Ben back. In all honesty, Nathan was a little overwhelmed by all the positive attention. It gave him the feeling that he needed to do something to destroy that love and affection soon. He needed to get the balance back into the universe. 

"You know" he mumbled. "I’m not complaining about my new superpower but I’m just saying it would have come in handy when Jamie died, that's all."

"Yeah" Klaus replied quietly and took a drag from his cigarette - the only vice his twin was still allowed, as it seemed. "I talked to Simon earlier. I called him to ask how long it usually takes you to come back."

"Oh, cool."

"He seems nice. He told me to tell you that your mom wants to call tomorrow. Apparently, he met her again."

"Oh." He didn't quite know what to feel about that. Sure, he had wanted to talk to his mother since he had uncovered this secret a week ago but now that she was actually willing to talk to him, he suddenly felt a little unsure about it. What would she say? What would he say? How does someone have such a bitter and loaded and fucking awful conversation?

"Do you want me to … be there?"

What a weird thing to ask that was of Klaus. He eyed him from the side but his twin’s eyes seemed honest in this question for sure - like he actually really cared that much about him. "Yeah … I guess that would be nice." He replied carefully. "So, hey … about that twin thing. All the times I randomly hurt in the past for no apparent reason … that was you?"

"I don't know." Klaus huffed with a shrug. "Maybe?"

"In that case, you got hurt a lot."

"Yeah … kinda." He sighed. "Especially living on the streets, I guess. Loads of abusive assholes out there … loads of abusive boyfriends. If you want to call them that anyway. I would call them fuckbuddies or something."

"I got hurt a lot too, I guess."

"I probably didn't even notice." Klaus hummed. "I mean I started taking drugs with thirteen and never stopped until this year. I remember only always hurting in some kind of way - never thought about it. It was just normal, I guess."

"Yeah," Nathan muttered quietly beside him. It was  _ their  _ normal, apparently. He didn't know if that twin thing was a real thing but it felt good to pretend like it was. It felt good to pretend that he and someone else in this world had been always so connected that they could feel each other's pain. It gave him a feeling of comfort and security in an odd way. 

"We are royally fucked up, are we not?" Klaus grinned.

"Only the best people are, Honey."

**-End of Chapter 7-**


	8. Chapter 8

Klaus had kept his promise. That shouldn't surprise Nathan as much as it did but the fact that it did probably spoke to how fucked up he really was. Yet, Klaus was sitting beside him in Nathan’s room at the mansion as the phone call from his mother finally came. They had been sitting in his room, just chatting like they normally would when the call came. Sure, he had known that his mother wanted to call him but when it actually happened, he didn't quite know what to feel. He was kind of nervous. After all, he had not talked to his mother for years now - not since she cut him out of her life like he was nothing but a tumor she needed to get rid of.

Perhaps that was exactly what she felt when she would be looking at him or when she was thinking about him. He was the cancer that had tortured her for two decades before she finally got rid of it. He had been supposed to fix her crumbling marriage and instead, maybe there was an argument to be made that he had only quickened the downfall of her relationship with his dad. It at least felt this way. It had always felt this way. Perhaps that was just a thing children of divorced parents had in common - that feeling of guilt, of not being good enough, of being to blame for the mess their parents got into. 

When he finally accepted the call, he didn't even know what to call his mother anymore. Mum? Louise? Mrs. Young? He didn't know. Nothing seemed right anymore. So, in the end, he opted for a playful "Evening Ma’am" even though he did not feel very playful at all at the moment. It was a role he was used to be playing, however. He had played that role for his entire life and stopping just was out of the question. It was the only identity that he had. Sadly, that personality was also the same thing that usually alienated him from the rest of society and turned everyone against him. 

"Hello Nathan." His mother’s voice came over the speaker. Klaus was here to support him, after all, so he should hear everything his mother had to say. Plus, what was there that she could say that he had not already told his brother? It was still weird how easy it had been for Nathan to open up to Klaus about everything. It was weird how much trust he was already putting into a guy he had known for only a week now. "How are you doing?"

"Oh, just peachy." He replied with fake cheer. "I mean sure, finding out that you own mother lied to you all your life and didn't tell you about your twin brother or the fact that you are adopted put a bit of a damper to my mood at the beginning of this week but, oh well, that's just life, right? We’ve all known days like this." 

"Nathan, let me explain." She cut in but already her tone was dry and annoyed. She sounded exactly like she had when talking to him about her weird-ass dog boyfriend years ago. Exasperated. As if he was making a mountain out of a molehill or didn't want to eat his broccoli. 

"Yeah, please do." He snarled as a way of replying to her. "Because I am really curious about how you want to explain it. I mean, listen, at least now I know why you never loved me, right? How could you? I wasn’t even your son, after all. And adopting me didn't save your marriage either so … yeah." 

"That's not what happened, Nathan, and you know that. Don't be unfair now."

"No, you know what? I  _ don't  _ know that! Because you never talked to me! Because you never told me about all that! I mean, sure, maybe you didn't know I had a brother but you could have at least told me I was adopted! My whole fucking life I asked myself what was wrong with me or what I did wrong to have my own mother look at me with that much fucking disdain, right? It would have at least explained it!"

"Nathan" Her voice was sharp as a slap as she spoke again and it even made Klaus flinch. He knew that tone of voice perfectly well. He had often been at the receiving end of it growing up. "I never looked at you with disdain! And it is not true that I never loved you but you make it hard to do so sometimes with all the lies you like to tell!"

"Oh, funny how my brother believed me then!" He scoffed. "But not the woman who pretended to have pushed me out of her fucking vagina!"

"Have you told your brother that you are a pathological liar then, Honey? Or have you told him about the therapy? Of course, your brother would believe you. He doesn't  _ know  _ you. And from everything I read about him, he is just like you. On the internet, they say he is a drug addict and a thief! He was in prison - just like you!" There was no warmth, nothing motherly about the way she was talking. He hadn't expected it but it still hurt. "Have you told your brother how you got my first boyfriend after your dad in trouble with the police because you lied about him molesting you?" 

"Yes, you know what? I told him! I also told him about the one who actually fucking fucked me and how you knew about it and never done anything about it!"

"Nathan, you know that's not true." She hissed. "But I see that you still have not changed one bit these past years. I thought you wanted me to tell you why I never told you about the adoption. Instead of letting me talk about it, you continue to insult me." 

"Yeah, sorry! Must be so fucking hard for you, right?" Nathan hissed. "Keeping track of all the lies you told me! I mean … you changed my fucking birthday! How did you even do that? Did you fake my birth certificate? How did no one ever notice that? And why did you do it? So that if I would hear about the other 42 children I wouldn't think I was one of them?"

"I am not going to talk to you as long as-"

"Oh, but you will!" Klaus suddenly chimed in. "Because you fucking owe him an explanation,  _ Louise  _ ."

She seemed stunned into silence for a second as she realized that his brother had been listening to their conversation this entire time. It was obvious that she suddenly didn't know what to say to him or Klaus in response to that. A few seconds ticked by until she regained her composure and said: "Was that Klaus? Your brother? Was he listening to our conversation?"

She sounded affronted be the idea and Nathan, who knew his mother well enough, could actually imagine her clutching that necklace she liked to wear - the one with the golden cross. 

"Oh yes, Lady" Klaus cut in with no inhibition at all. "I was and I’m honestly pissed, your Majesty!" He shot back and almost startled a laugh out of Nathan at that. "Listen, we can spend hours arguing about the fucked up shit you did to Nate, alright? Or we could talk about the topic at hand now. You owe him a fucking explanation!" 

His mother, Louise, gave a deep sigh and cleared her throat. "When we adopted you, we didn't know that you were one of those other 43 children at first, Nathan. The doctors told us that your twin brother had died just like your mother and that there was no one else left for you. Your father and I tried having a child for so long but it just wouldn't work and we had already applied for adoption in Germany and in the U.K. Your father was working in Germany at the time for three years. The timing couldn't have been any more perfect either as his contract was about to expire, which would mean that we would return to Ireland soon. I left Germany with you, just days after we had taken you in and after the paperwork was finalized. I went ahead with you to get everything done and ready for when your father would join us back in Ireland just two weeks later. We would have taken both of you if it would have been possible."

She sounded honest enough but Nathan had grown up with that woman and, after everything he had experienced at Louise’s side, he just couldn't tell anymore what was real and what wasn’t. "Why did you change my birth certificate then?"

"We heard about the other 42 babies that had been born that day and that this man, this Reginald Hargreeves, was buying and collecting them. Your father had friends that could help us out, so we changed your birth certificate so that this man wouldn’t come to us. It was an anonymous adoption, so all he could have searched for to find you was your birthday. Maybe he wouldn't have found you regardless but we wanted to make sure." 

"So, in other words, you were paranoid fucks." Nathan huffed. If his mother had truly believed Klaus to be dead, he couldn't be too angry with her, he assumed. But who was to say that she was not, once again, lying to him? Who was to say that she really believed Klaus to be dead back then? 

"We were scared that you would get taken from us again after we waited so long." His mother argued back. However, her voice was much softer this time around. 

"And then when Dad left, you still treated me like the worst thing that ever happened to you." 

"That's not true, Nathan." She replied sharply, all softness and gentleness gone again from her voice. "You know that's not true. However, you were not the easiest child to handle. You had a penchant for getting into trouble and lying to get my attention. It was hard to-"

"Love me?"

"Yes." It was like a punch to the gut and it was actually his brother who took the phone away from him and ended the call without any sense of hesitation. A part of him was angry at him, the other part was relieved.

"Fuck her," Klaus growled and shoved his shoulder. "Fuck her, Nathan. You don't need to listen to shit like this. Believe me, I did it my whole fucking life. Get your nicest panties on. We are going to hit the clubs."

※※※※※※※

Convincing Ben and Diego to join him and Nathan for a night out in the clubs had been easy. Ben was coming along because he finally got to really experience all of this for the very first time for real, after trailing after Klaus for years and years. Diego was coming along to have an eye on the twins, - especially on Klaus, of course - and because he was their designated driver as he was the only one of the two people that wouldn't drink who could actually drive a car. 

He let Diego choose the location because that way it would be far away from Klaus’ usual digs of the past and would reduce the risk of running into old flames or dealers - in some cases they were one and the same. Diego had chosen a club in Soho that only recently opened its doors to the public. Getting in for them seemed little to no problem since the whole world knew their faces. A few people, who recognized Diego and Klaus, took a double-take when they saw Nathan and Ben, though. He knew that his brother would usually prefer some salsa bar, as cliche as it was, and dance the night away and not some hot-spot that had only been open for a few months but Klaus appreciated the effort. In Diego’s mind, this club was probably the safest bet.

The music inside the club was loud, the lights flashing, the people pretty, and Klaus felt at home right when they walked in. He had not even realized how much he missed being at the clubs to party, even though he couldn't remember ever partying without drugs or alcohol. This truly was a new experience. That didn't make it any less fun, however. He was aware of the looks he and Nathan got when they all walked inside. Well, half of the world's population thought twins were creepy and the other half thought they were hot. 

Apparently, most people at the club that Diego had chosen seemed to think that they were inherently hot because they were twins, judging by how many people stared at them with open interest. Of course, there were still the people who had grown up with the Umbrella Academy and couldn't recall a second Klaus. He noticed, in passing, how a girl took a photo of him and Nathan with her phone - undoubtedly to tweet about it.

"Remember our deal" Nathan grinned as he spoke into his ear, leaning ever so slightly closer than he really had to. "the girls for me and you get the boys."

"Deal." Klaus rolled his eyes with a lopsided little grin. "But don't forget our chaperones. Diego will have an eye on us like a hawk."

"Let’s go dance then." Nathan grinned. Klaus quickly grabbed a hold of Diego’s arm to drag him along too with Ben eager to follow. 

The group was on the dancefloor in a matter of seconds of first getting to the club. It felt good actually being able to let loose again, to dance, and just not care about the people around him. At first, he hadn't been sure about dancing without alcohol or drugs but now it just felt liberating. He could feel the music vibrating in his core and making his blood boil - in the good kind of way. He felt so close to the people around him and yet separated from them at the same time. For once, he felt like himself again, just dancing the night away with his brothers, cheering Ben on as he relearned to feel and move his body, egging Diego on to even more stupid dance moves that Number Two tried to teach Nathan. They had fun and only that mattered. 

They had fun introducing Ben to alcohol too. They had found a booth to sit in at the sidelines and Nathan had ordered him and Ben a fancy cocktail while Diego and Klaus kept to water. He would have thought that Diego would be watching him much more closely but his brother seemed actually relaxed at his side as if he would be trusting Klaus for once not to fuck everything up like he usually would do. Like he had in the past.

As Ben took the first sip of his cocktail, his brother almost spat it out again only to have the rest of the group laugh and Nathan pat his back almost violently while Ben choked. "There you go, Mate! Next thing on the agenda is popping your cherry!" 

"Is this an offer?" Ben laughed.

"Eww!" Klaus exclaimed. "No way, Benny! That would be as if you were fucking  _ me _ . Raise your standards!"

"You just don't want to make Diego jealous!" Nathan laughed.

"Oh, he would never!" Klaus laughed. "Diego knows he’s the only man for me!"

"Ain’t that right, Baby?" Diego drawled and gently whacked him over the head. He had missed the playful banter that sometimes bordered on flirting with his favorite big brother as he leaned against him now. Between him and Diego, it was just different than with all his other siblings. They understood each other on a different level - one that not everyone would understand when witnessing it. 

Nathan just laughed and emptied his glass before he got to his feet. Ben was still eagerly sipping his own drink and already ordering the next. "I’m gonna take a leak, girls. Don't start with the boy talk before I come back!" 

"Do you need assistance?" Klaus teased and wiggled his brows at his twin.

"That would just be awkward!" Nathan cackled and finally left for the toilets.

"Hey, Klaus" Ben demanded his attention and then nodded towards a man who was sitting at the bar. He was tall, blonde, and handsome. He was dressed sharply in a black suit, obviously here to go home with someone to warm his bed, and nursing a martini. "He’s looking at you since we entered."

"Interesting" Klaus hummed and lifted his water glass in recognition as the man looked over again. The man gave him a little smirk and leaned over to the bartender - undoubtedly to order Klaus a drink. When he leaned back and looked over at Klaus, however, Diego was quick to pull him closer with one arm around his shoulders, casting a glare at the stranger at the bar. The man quickly looked away and Ben let out a loud, high-pitched laugh. 

"You are such a cockblock!" Ben accused. His cheeks were already red and so were his ears. The drink that the stranger ordered for Klaus, came and Ben took it immediately - to piss the guy off even further and to prevent Klaus from even getting near it. 

"I just don't want my little brother to run off with some random guy" Diego huffed as he let go of him again and shoved him playfully into Ben’s side instead. Poor Benny barely caught his balance. "He looks like a total creep. I mean look at his shoes! He’s wearing cowboy boots to a suit!" 

"Yeah, you are so right" Klaus huffed. He hadn't even noticed the boots before. Not that it mattered much. The guy wouldn't have been wearing them while shagging Klaus - or he would have  _ only  _ been wearing them. "My savior! Everyone knows that people with cowboy boots can’t be trusted." 

Just as he wanted to ask Diego to follow him to the dancefloor again while Ben was carefully sipping the stolen drink, Nathan returned from his adventure with a bloody nose. There was a joke somewhere in the back of his mind about his brother not even being able to go take a leak without pissing someone off but the anger on Nathan’s face told him to zip it for a moment until he would know what happened. Weird how oddly in control Klaus was over his facial expression and his mouth when he was sober. High-Klaus would have already made a stupid comment and gotten into a cat-fight with Nathan.

"Shit!" Diego exclaimed and was on his feet right away to have a look at Nathan. "Hey, what happened to your face, Bro?"

"This  _ dickhead  _ happened!" Nathan, to everyone's surprise, pointed at Klaus. Confused about his brother’s behavior, Klaus too got up from his seat. 

"What? I’ve been here the entire time!"

"Yeah, but your fucking ex-dealer-boyfriend wasn’t!"

"My what?"

"He came after me, for fuck’s sake!" He felt like he was witnessing a very rare thing seeing Nathan Young actually getting angry. He was always so blasé about everything that it was actually hard to imagine him getting truly angry about anything. "Some random fucking asshole! He asked me where his money was, asked me if I was fucking immigrants now. Before I knew it he had punched me and wanted to drag me into a fucking stall! He thought I was you and only got angrier when I told him he had the wrong guy."

"What happened then?" Ben slurred. He seemed only mildly interested. It was probably the alcohol.

"I kicked him in the nuts, of course."

Diego was beside him right away, putting a protective arm around Klaus as if he feared he might fall apart right this instance if he wouldn't. His confusion slowly started to make room for fear now. There were so many people out there that Klaus had managed to piss off in the past. It was hard to say who Nathan might have stumbled across and it seemed a miracle that he had not yet accidentally met one of the really aggressive and dangerous people that held a grudge against Klaus. Still, knowing that one of those guys was here right now and had tried to assault his brother thinking that Nathan was Klaus, made his knees go weak.

"How is that my fault, though?" He growled at his brother instead of apologizing. Getting angry was not usually his thing but it was definitely a defense mechanism that he had adopted in the past. Sometimes attacking was the best form of defense, right?

"We should go." Diego decided for the rest of them. "Right now. We should go home if that guy is here. As much as I would love to beat him up, it's too dangerous with a guy like this around."

"Yeah, fucking do that!" Nathan snarled and wiped the blood from his nose. "I’m going to go back to the hotel."

"What?" Klaus gaped at his brother with wide eyes at these words. Despite being sober, he had a hard time processing Nathan’s words.

"I’m not spending another fucking second near this dingus! The asshole almost raped me because this idiot couldn't fucking keep his legs closed in the past!" 

"Hey now!" Ben erupted beside him and Klaus just felt sick. He had his two brothers by his side and they were now arguing with his twin. It felt wrong and sickening and he just wanted the situation to be over. He had always hated conflict. It made him feel sick and afraid when people would be arguing - even more so when he was the cause of the argument. 

"As if you wouldn't have a few skeletons in your closet!" Klaus hissed back at Nathan. For a second there, Nathan looked as if he was about to strangle him.

"Yeah, maybe but unlike you, I was not a fucking whore." He then spat and turned around to leave before Diego could rip his head off. 

※※※※※※※

He was pissed. Royally pissed. Pissed at Klaus, pissed at himself, pissed at the situation, pissed at this asshole who had attacked him. A part of him felt bad for leaving Klaus behind like this, for insulting him even in that way. Maybe he had gone too far. After all, Klaus had told him a few things about his time on the streets, and using this against him now was wrong and ugly. Yet, he had done it because whenever he didn't know what to do, he was lashing out and hurting other people. 

Still, that guy would have raped him if he hadn't reacted so quickly. Besides being angry at this asshole, he was angry because that was what his brother’s life had looked like in the past. Random assholes beating him up and taking what they wanted. Experiencing this crap tonight made him only angrier on his brother’s behalf. It made him angry at Klaus for putting himself in so much danger for years, it made him angry at his siblings for allowing Klaus to put himself in so much danger.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Kelly’s number. Simon was probably at work already and despite what people might think about him, he didn't want to bother his friends when they were working. Simon had a business to run, after all. Kelly picked up after the third ring.

"Nathan?" She asked and he felt at home right away hearing that lovely chav accent. "Isn’t it like 2 in the morning for you?"

"Yeah," He huffed. "I was out with my brother and his brothers and … Kelly?"

"Yeah, Nathan?" She sounded like a mother who exactly knew what her son would tell her next. Well, he was calling her in the middle of the night. That was probably an indicator of his situation. Oh, how much he missed the days when she made him chicken nuggets.

"I really messed up, Kelly." He sighed as he slowly walked down the street. He could see that donut shop that he had gone to with Klaus before and walked there without thinking twice about it. 

"What did you do?"

"I fought with Klausie."

"You can always reconcile."

"No. Not this time. I was a real asshole to him, Kelly." He sighed even though he wanted to sob. he felt absolutely rubbish thinking about what he had done to his brother, what he had said to him. "I called him all sorts of names and was … I really was a bitch."

"Okay, listen, sit down somewhere, and then you tell me what happened, okay? We’ll figure this out together." 

"Yeah … yeah sounds good." He muttered as he entered the donut shop without thinking twice. It was empty except for a large looking man in a dark suit sitting at the counter. He was talking to the waitress.  _ Agnes _ , if Nathan recalled correctly. She seemed fond of the man in front of her. "I really don't want to fuck this up, Kelly. I like him. I mean, he’s my brother, the only family I have, right? I … I don't want it to be like it was with Jamie."

"Oh, Nathan" She cooed as he sat down and quietly asked the nice lady for a coffee. He noticed how the man looked at him from the side as if he recognized him but he paid him no attention. "It's not gonna be like that."

"Why? Because Jamie died because I didn't watch out for him?" He huffed. "This whole thing is just so fucked up and Diego looked at me like he wanted to rip me the shreds. I really messed up." 

"Slowly now. What happened?" The man beside him got up from his chair and said his goodbyes to the waitress as she poured Nathan a cup of coffee. She smiled and even gave a little giggle at something he said before the man left. 

"Well, I was at a club with Klaus, Diego, and Ben - long story. I talked to Mum earlier and needed a little cheering up, you know?"

"Yeah, Simon told me your mum was gonna call you," Kelly remarked. "How did that go?" 

"As you would expect." He huffed. "Of course, she wouldn't take the blame and shit, right? It wasn't really that surprising. Anyway, we went to the club to get my mind off of things. We danced, had a good time, dicked around, the usual. Then I went to the bathroom to take a leak and when I wanted to leave there was this guy standing in the door, right? First, I thought he wanted to sell me something but then he started with all those questions like ‘Where’s my money?’ and shit. He thought I was Klaus, had seen one of us with Diego on the dancefloor, and thought that he was Klaus’ new bae or something. Fuck, as if I would know what this asshole thought! Anyway, he’s one of Klaus’ exes and former drug dealers or something. When I didn't recognize him, he got real pissed at me, punched me right in the face, and dragged me into a stall."

"Fuck, Nathan!"

"Yeah, exactly. So he wanted to fuck me, right? So I kicked him in the balls and ran."

"And then you got into a fight with Klaus about it?"

"Yeah! I mean I was livid, right? One of his fucking exes attacked me and would have-" He paused and took a sip from his coffee. "So, I got in his face, insulted him and called him all kinds of fucked up names just to get it outta my system. Diego looked ready to murder me right on the spot. Understandable. What right do I have to speak to Klaus like this, right? It's not his fault. And … knowing that … that shit like this was normal for him … It's … It breaks my heart, you know?"

"I know" Her voice was almost unbearably soft. He had told her and Simon about his past long before he knew about Klaus. Sure, he had not told them everything like he had told Klaus but they knew the gist of it. They knew enough to figure out the rest. If anyone would understand him, it would be them. "I know … it … pulled everything you went through back to the surface."

"Yeah … So, what do I do now?"

"You go to the hotel you stayed in and ask for a room for the night. You sleep a little and then, tomorrow, when you all calmed down a little, you go back to the house and apologize. And you just … tell him what you told me, right? How scared you were because of your past and how angry you were because of Klaus’ past. He’ll understand."

"Do you really think so?"

"After the things you told me about him? Sure. He sounds like he has way too big of a heart not to forgive his stupid brother." 

"Yeah, that’s true." He sighed. "He’s kind of a dumbass. He’s very sweet and kind. Easy to manipulate. Easy to exploit." 

"You really love him, don't you?" Kelly chuckled on the other end with fondness in her voice. 

"I suppose I do." He huffed. "Weird, right? I mean, we just met and it's like we’ve known each other our whole life." 

"It's a twin thing." He couldn't help but laugh at that expression coming from Kelly. 

"Yeah, probably." He sighed. "Okay. I’ll let you get back to work now."

"Call me when you resolved everything."

"I will." He hung up after that and drank his coffee. The waitress smiled kindly at him, she probably remembered him from when he was here with Vanya and Klaus. Not too long after that, Nathan put the money on the table, got a few donuts to go, and left the donut shop. He was walking down the street to where the hotel would be waiting for him as he heard footsteps behind him. Not thinking anything of it, he just kept walking. That was when something hard suddenly made contact with the back of his skull and turned his entire world black. 

**-End of Chapter 8-**


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter because it seems I lost the other half of the chapter for some reason and I can't recall what I've written x_X

The night was warm and quiet as they were walking across the parking lot back to Diego’s car. Stepping out of the club was like being punched in the face by the humidity of the summer night’s air. His brother Diego was fuming, Ben was staggering along, and Klaus didn't even know what to think or feel. This night had been supposed to be a fun experience for them - especially Ben who finally got to really feel all this for the very first time, after all these years of being condemned to being an observer from the shadows. 

They quickly reached Diego’s shabby old green car and slipped inside. Usually, Klaus preferred the backseat but tonight he thought it to be wiser to have Ben take the backseat - just in case. It surely was just a matter of minutes now until his stomach would throw a temper tantrum. 

"I’m gonna rip his head off" Diego growled through his clenched teeth as he was pulling out of the parking lot and into the road that brought them here in the first place. "Calling you names like this, treating you like-" He bit down on his tongue before spitting out: "Fuck this guy."

"He was just angry and scared," Klaus reassured his ever over-protective brother.

"That's no excuse!" 

"I’m not making excuses!" He didn't dignify the look Diego shot him with a response. "I’m just trying to explain it." 

"I know!" Diego shot back. "Because you are way too soft on this guy! He called you a whore, Klaus!"

"Well, in his defense…"

"No! What you did to survive on the streets has no business being used against you now!" Diego hissed. Klaus would beg to differ but apparently no one asked him about his opinion, right? "He had no right to call you names and shit just because he was scared!"

"Let's just get home" Ben sighed from the backseat where he was sprawled out across the seats now. He was already looking a little green in the face. "and sleep a little. I’m sure he will come back and apologize first thing in the morning. I’m sure he already regrets talking to Klaus in this way."

"Still!"

"Diego" Klaus sighed. "As much as I appreciate it that you want to defend my honor and shit, I am no damsel in distress and there is no dragon to slay. I can fight my own battles, I’m just too lazy most of the time. If he comes back and apologizes, I will accept his apology and you will too, okay?"

"No, you-"

"Dee, come on." He drawled and punched his brother gently in the shoulder. "I understand why he got so freaked out and I would have too. His life wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows either, okay?" 

"What do you mean?"

"He told me in confidence." Klaus sighed and the look he gave Diego should tell his brother clearly, that he was not going to divulge any of Nathan’s secrets to him now. "I can't talk about it." 

Diego looked at him again as they were stopping at a red light. He couldn't quite make out the emotions in those dark eyes but it was something along the lines of betrayal, perhaps. Something along the lines of ‘But we don't have secrets in front of each other’. And Diego would be right to say that too. They never really had any secrets in front of each other. Diego was his best friend, always had been. Klaus had trusted him always with his most private and intimate secrets - knowing that Diego would never tell on him. That he now shared something with Nathan that he could not tell Diego about was weird. 

"I’m sorry, okay?"

"No, it's okay," Ben replied from behind Klaus as if Klaus had addressed him and not Diego. He watched Ben reach out to pat his shoulder and failing miserably. "I’m feeling woozy." Diego and he shared a look again and if Diego sped down the street a bit faster now, none of them said anything about it.

Thankfully, they reached the house only five minutes later. Klaus watched partly amused, partly worried, as Ben scrambled out of the backseat, wrestled his misbehaving body to the nearest trash can at the side of the street, and threw up violently. 

"They grow up so fast." Klaus mocked. It was weird to be on the other side now. Previously, it had been Diego or Ben taking care of  _ him  _ when he had gotten wasted. 

Diego’s look of disgust, however, was the same it always was as he muttered under his breath: "See? That’s why I don't drink." 

Klaus was tempted to snap a photo for the rest of their gang but, in the end, he instead helped Ben along. Together with Diego, he dragged Ben into the house and up the stairs to the next bathroom, where he quickly started throwing up again. Nathan was forgotten for the moment as Diego and he watched over Ben patiently. The nursing he left to Diego as he watched from the sidelines. Nurse Diego had just more experience in this territory, while Klaus could only stay there and wince sympathetically. Throwing up really was something that he didn't miss since he got clean for good.

"How did you do that shit for years?" Ben later moaned when Klaus deposited him in his own bed. Diego only scoffed at the question and placed a metal bucket next to Klaus’ bed on the floor. _ Ah, the return of the bucket,  _ he thought,  _ long time no see, old friend.  _ They had decided that Ben would be better off sleeping in Klaus’ room tonight so that he could have an eye on him. Upstairs it would only be Five and Five wouldn't hear anything or even care, if Ben needed his help. 

"You’ll get better with training." Klaus huffed in response and patted poor Benny’s back. 

"I never drink again." 

Diego let out a chuckle at that and brushed a comforting hand through Ben’s hair. Klaus felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him at the sight. How many times had he slept in Diego’s bed at the boxing gym with his favorite big brother watching over him, patting his hair or his back until he felt better? And how would things have been, if Ben had not died so young? Would they have experienced this shit together? Would they have staggered home in the wee hours of the morning, laughing and whispering to each other? 

"I’m heading to bed now." Diego declared with a yawn. "You guys okay?"

"Sure," Klaus muttered as he dragged his legs up, leaned his back against the wall at the foot of the bed, and tried to get comfortable. "Sure, leave it to me. It's the least I can do. If I need you, I’m just gonna yell." 

Diego just smiled at that before he ruffled his curls and left Klaus’ bedroom to walk to his own room next door. Only as he heard Diego’s door click shut, Ben spoke up again. "You should go after Nathan." He murmured, still slurring, but his voice commanding attention nonetheless. "Go to the hotel, don't waste time."

"It's almost morning." Klaus hummed. His alarm clock - a well-meaning gift of Luther’s so that he would get his ass out of bed before noon - told him that it was almost three in the morning already. He felt absolutely crushed and exhausted even though he had not a single drop of alcohol. Well, he was not getting any younger, he supposed. His days as a wild party animal were very obviously over and done now. He didn't miss the old Klaus much, though. "I can go later. It's better to give him a bit more time to figure everything out and calm down, I guess. Besides, who’s gonna look after your sorry ass if I go after my stupid brother?"

"It's okay … what's the worst that could happen?" Ben hummed. He was very obviously struggling to keep his eyes open. It was almost a bit cute and reminded him of the boy that Ben used to be. He had always been the first to fall asleep whenever the siblings had had the opportunity to have a sort of pajama party while their dad was away. Speaking of which: They should definitely have another pajama party soon. 

"You could choke on your vomit and die." He informed dryly. 

"Fair enough." Ben chuckled just as there was a gentle knock at the door. His door, as per usual, wasn’t shut all the way and so Vanya quickly revealed herself as she slowly pushed the door open wider. She was, of course, in her pajamas, her long her neatly braided so that it wouldn't tangle during her sleep. It had grown out a bit more since they first came back together as a team.

"Hey," She smiled. "I heard you boys come back … Is he okay?" Vanya’s smile quickly made room for worry lines on her pale face as her eyes fell upon Ben who lay there miserably.

"Oh yeah," Klaus laughed and Ben winced at the sound. "Our dear Benjamin is experiencing the wonders of being piss drunk for the first time in his life."

"Ah," She chuckled good-naturedly and walked closer. "Can I do anything?" 

"No, I think he’s gonna fall asleep any minute now."

"I’m not," Ben slurred but his eyes were mere slits at this point. He was already halfway into dreamland "And you should go after Nate…"

Of course, Vanya would perk up at that and look at Klaus with concern. "Why? What's with Nathan?"

"Fight," Ben helpfully added.

"You had a fight?" Vanya echoed and if it would have been physically possible, her eyebrows would have vanished in her hairline. Sure, Klaus was not usually one to pick a fight but that didn't mean he was not at all capable of getting into arguments. However, his siblings by now knew very clearly that Klaus absolutely dreaded any kind of altercation no matter if it was physical or verbal. Arguments, screaming, and yelling, loud voices made him anxious and evoked only the desire to run away and hide somewhere for him. It had always been like this. He blamed the ghosts and their tendency to yell at him. 

"Words have been said, people got angry." Klaus shrugged. "It's a long story. Anyway, he wanted to go back to the hotel for the night and … Ben’s going on and on about me going after him."

"Maybe you should." Vanya shrugged. Vanya having Ben’s side? Big surprise. 

"Nope." He popped the ‘p’ and then gestured helpfully towards Ben. " I’m taking care of Ben. I’m his nurse for the night. Nurse Klaus. Nurse Diego is off for the day."

"I can take care of Ben, if you want. I can’t sleep anyway." He was much more torn than he liked to admit. He wanted to be here with Ben while he was going through this experience, but he also felt the nagging sensation that he should look after his twin. What if he got himself in trouble? Well, he couldn't die but dying wasn't the worst thing that could happen to Nathan if he would run into another of Klaus’ former acquaintances. He was worried. He really was.

"It's okay" Ben murmured and shoved him. "Go. Go or I’ll puke on your bed."

"Eww! Okay, okay!" He sighed and climbed off his bed. 

"I’m taking care of him." Vanya smiled and brushed a hand over his arm. "Be safe … and bring Nathan back home."

※※※※※※※

He wasn’t very comfortable out and about in these darkest hours of the night. The night always was the darkest right before dawn and that was certainly true now as he was walking down the streets. He had snuck out of the house without alarming Diego - by some miracle. His brother Diego was usually the most attentive at night, so used to the sounds of Klaus sneaking out of the house that he would perk up every time. It probably spoke to his exhaustion that he had not noticed it or came after him.

It was a few minutes past three in the morning when the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead was at its thinnest. To Klaus, that was not the most pleasant hour to be awake and wandering about for certain. His skin was crawling as he was walking down the street. However, the ghosts that were roaming about in his periphery were not the only things he was fearful of. Every time he would go outside these days, he was running the risk of stumbling upon someone from his past, just like it had happened to Nathan tonight.

There were so many people that he had managed to piss off over the years, so much red in his ledger still. He thought about all the drug dealers he still owed money to, about all the ex-liaisons. There was a reason why he had to drop off of the face of the earth every now and then and wait until the dust settled. There was also a reason why Klaus hadn't had any friends during his time on the streets. No real friends, at least. The only person who had been watching out for him in those dark hours between dumpsters had been Ben.

Still, the way from home to the hotel wasn’t all that far even though it would have been easier to ask Diego to drive him. Then again, if Diego would accompany him, things would probably escalate between Diego and Nathan. He didn't want to risk anything of that sort so he’d rather go alone.

He was in the park now. The hotel was just at the other side and he already tried to come up with something to say to his brother. What could he say, though? ‘Sorry that my ex tried to rape you?’ That was hardly good enough. The park was dark at this hour of the night and only junkies and homeless people would linger in the shadows. He wasn’t afraid, though. The ghosts that were hovering around were scarier than the potential of some homeless guy jumping him. Not that he expected anyone to jump him. He had been there, after all. He knew that most homeless people just tried to survive and were not all that interested in attacking someone.

Then again, he would be the perfect victim right now, wouldn't he? He was alone in a pitch-black park. There were hardly any lanterns illuminating the path in front of him and no one would hear him scream either. He quickened his step, suddenly aware of the splitting headache that he had. 

It was an odd sensation that made him feel a little fatigued all of a sudden. The sensation was comparable to being hit in the head - but he didn't recall actually hitting his head tonight. Whatever it was, it made him feel uneasy and restless. He actually touched the back of his head and half expected it to come away bloody. That wasn’t the case, however.

He quickened his step at that, suddenly alarmed. What if someone had attacked Nathan? He hurried down the street and took the shortcut through the park. However, just as he walked through the gate of the park, something collided with the back of his head and sent him flying into the ground.

**-End of Chapter 9-**


	10. Chapter 10

It was nearing noon and Diego was starting to get concerned. After waking up in the morning, he had gone to check on Ben and Klaus only to found Klaus’ bedroom lacking Klaus. Instead, he had found Vanya dozing beside the bed in a beanbag. She had later explained to him that Ben had insisted that Klaus should go after Nathan. He had been a little unsettled by that revelation but then decided to swallow his worry for a little bit. Klaus was an adult, after all. He could look out for himself. And if he was with Nathan … Well, maybe the twins just had a lot to talk about or Klaus had actually slept at the hotel. 

However, as noon neared, he was slowly starting to get a little nervous. He tried ringing Klaus’ phone but it had quickly turned out that he had left it on his bedside table and when he tried calling Nathan from Klaus’ phone, he only reached his mailbox. Sure, that might not be concerning either but Diego started to feel more and more uneasy as more time passed without a single hint of where his brother was at. 

"He’s probably fine," Ben said as the brothers helped their mother prepare a few sandwiches for their siblings. Ben was recently gravitating to all kinds of tasks that they usually despised as children, such as helping mom clean up stuff or tidying his room - or Klaus’ room for that matter. He could understand him in a way. After all, Ben was just relearning being alive again, having a body to control, things to achieve and do. "Nathan’s battery probably just ran out and they are doing stupid shit. You’ll see, they will barge in soon as if nothing happened with ice cream or shit."

"Yeah, you’re probably right." Even though he said it, he didn't believe it one bit and Ben probably could tell. Being dead for such a long while, Ben had become very perceptive. Well, he guessed, that's just what would happen when someone could do little more than watch people for thirteen years straight. At least, he thought, Ben had enough decency not to call him out for his bullshit right now and just accepted it.

An hour later, they had still not heard anything of Klaus and by then, Diego was close to actually freaking out. His siblings, on the other hand, seemed less concerned. Even Ben, who was still suffering from a massive headache, seemed calm and collected. Then again, he was much more used to Klaus’ shenanigans. As the doorbell rang, however, a part of him was sure that it were actually Klaus and Nathan. Of course, logically speaking neither one of them would be ringing the doorbell but just walk in, and yet, it was hope talking as Diego walked to open the door. 

In front of him, however, stood neither Nathan nor Klaus but a young man with dark brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and the complexion of milk. 

"Hello," The young man said with a heavy British accent. "You must be Diego. I-I’m Simon. Simon Bellamy? A friend of Nathan. Is he here?"

※※※※※※※

When he came to it, he found himself in an empty room with naked walls. A single light bulb was hanging from the grey ceiling. His arms and legs were bound to a wooden chair and Klaus almost laughed as he saw the familiar face of Cha-Cha entering his world as she noticed how he had woken up.

"I liked the motel better," Klaus muttered through his headache. "I mean … this room? It practically screams serial killer basement, right? Cliché much?" He had expected the slap that came his way but that made it not hurt any less. Apparently, she was still not fond of him.

"You know, I was almost happy when the Handler told us to go after your family again." Cha-Cha mused suddenly, her tone even and her voice flat. "I hoped to get another chance to play with you after the shit you and your brother pulled last time."

Last time, yes … Almost two days of torture at the hands of Hazel and Cha-Cha until Diego and his lady-friend had found and rescued him. If it hadn't been for Diego coming to his rescue like some knight in shining armor, he would probably be dead and buried right now. Well, perhaps not dead - but certainly buried somewhere.

"Kinky." The next slap made his head whip to the side. "Easy, girl … you just tire yourself out."

"Cha-Cha!" A familiar voice called up from somewhere behind him but Klaus couldn't turn his head far enough to actually see the person that had just entered the murder dungeon. "I got the junkie!"

_ What? _

Klaus strained his neck to see Hazel but it just wouldn't work. He could hear the big man stop dead in his tracks somewhere behind him, however, as his eyes undoubtedly had fallen upon Klaus in the chair.

"What do you mean, you have the junkie? I have him right here!" 

They got Nathan. The thought made his heart stop for a second. They got his twin brother. Fuck. It was one thing when they got him. He was used to pain, he had been here in this situation before. But Nathan? They knew each other only for a week and already he had dragged his brother into all this fucked-up mess. If it wouldn't be for this realization, the situation poor Cha-Cha and Hazel found themselves in now would be almost comical. 

"What?" Hazel exclaimed followed by a loud thud as if something heavy had been dumped on the floor - or rather  _ someone _ . Since his brother didn't say anything, he was probably still unconscious. The next moment, Hazel had actually walked around to look at him. His face as a mixture of horror and confusion. "How are there two of that guy now?" 

"How would I know?" Cha-Cha exclaimed, her voice no longer flat or even but borderline shrill now as the horror had time to sink in. He prided himself on the fact that he had been their worst kidnapping victim and now there were two of him. Surely, that had to be Cha-Cha’s worst nightmare. "Five, that little bastard! He probably did something else to the timeline! This idiot jumps through time and space like there are no rules! This is probably his doing!"

"Twins." Klaus scoffed finally. "He’s my twin."

"It's never twins!" Cha-cha exclaimed and Klaus almost laughed but he was sure Cha-Cha would hit him again if he would.

"Whatever it is" Hazel grunted and walked away. He could hear him drag another chair over to where Klaus was to place it back to back with the one Klaus sat on. "We have two guys now to interrogate - which also means we have double the pressure on our dear friend Five." 

"Didn't you like, desert, or something?" Klaus sighed. "I mean, geez! I was rooting for you, Man! You wanted to run off with that donut lady, didn't you?" Cha-Cha hit him straight in the face at that - not that this would shut him up. "Jesus, Lady! Jealous much? What got your panties all twisted like this? Aren't you excited to be reunited with me again?" 

He could feel how Hazel put his unconscious brother into the chair behind Klaus and tied him to the wood in much the same fashion as Klaus was tied to his own chair. He could feel Nathan’s back against his own and as much as it was comforting that he was not alone in this predicament, as much was he terrified for his immortal brother. Sure, Nathan couldn't die but that only meant that Cha-Cha and Hazel had an immortal toy now. They would be able to cut limbs off and Nathan would come back from it and Klaus would be here to watch it all. Fuck. He knew that those fuckers would use Nathan against him. They would be stupid not to. 

※※※※※※※

Simon looked inconspicuous enough to Diego. Of course, Five saw it a little differently. As soon as the siblings had started to gather that something had happened for Klaus and Nathan still to be missing in the early afternoon, they had all sat down in the living room. Right now, Five was staring holes into Simon and, yes, the Brit did seem a little unnerved by it - or rather as if he really wanted to turn invisible right then and there. If Nathan could be believed, that was exactly what his power entailed too.

"I’m calling bullshit." Five groaned. "I told you all that this Nathan guy was fishy! I told you the Commission sent him! We let our guards down around that asshole and now Klaus has suddenly weirdly gone missing? No! That’s Nathan’s doing! And this guy appearing here out of the blue like this proves it!"

"How so?" Ben drawled.

"Well!" Five gesticulated wildly towards Simon as if it should be obvious. "He clearly serves as a distraction! He’s here all worried for his friend? Bullshit! He’s here to make us believe that Nathan is innocent while he spies on us for the Commission! This guy is in on it, I’m telling you! Plus, I don't recall Nathan ever telling us about someone named Simon! He said his best friend’s name was Barry!" 

Simon sighed in frustration. "I told him to stop telling everyone my name was Barry. That always got him in trouble!" 

"Just, ignore him, okay?" Allison sighed. "Five is just paranoid. That's part of his charm. So, Simon, do you have any idea where Nathan might be? I mean, sure, there is a possibility that the Commission is back to bite us in the arse, Five, but it's also possible that Nathan and Klaus are just somewhere having fun, right? So. We know where Klaus would usually go but since he is clean now, we can pretty much rule out those places. That leaves Griddy’s and the park. Ben, any ideas?"

"He always wanted to go to the beach." Ben shrugged. "But he wouldn't just leave with Nathan in that case. He would have asked us to come with. At least he would have come back to grab a few things. He also wanted to go visit the aquarium. When he was high he couldn't deal with the lights and the water and shit." 

"Okay." Allison sighed and turned to him next. "Diego, shoot."

Sure, he had wrecked his brain already, trying to figure out where his brother might be. He knew Klaus well enough to tell where he might go and what he might do. He had spent years watching over his little brother like a shadow, scooping up what was left of him after one more violent encounter with a John or a dealer or just some prick. Even though Klaus’ behavior had often been erratic and unpredictable in the past, he still knew his brother better than anyone else with the exception of Ben. 

"Maybe the covered market in Soho." He sighed and rubbed his temples. Despite how much he had tried to come up with answers already to soothe his nerves, he had little to offer right now. He could be anywhere. His gut, however, was telling him, that Klaus and Nathan were not just enjoying their day together somewhere. "He said once he liked the boho feel that place had - whatever that is supposed to mean."

"We have to give consideration to the possibility that he might have relapsed." Five groaned.

"We do but we won’t until we have evidence." Luther shot him down immediately, much to Diego’s surprise. Well, he took that supportive big brother thing really seriously these days. Five was still right, though. It was a very real possibility that Klaus had relapsed and if he had, he was now out there somewhere drunk or high - or maybe too ashamed to come back home. This time around, Klaus had actually taken sobriety seriously, after all. If he would have relapsed he would be crushed by the weight of guilt and shame. 

"Okay, we have the covered market, the aquarium, Griddy’s, and the park. Simon? Any clue where Nathan might have taken Klaus?"

"Well … he’s a big nerd when it comes to space." Everyone looked at him funnily which prompted Simon to blush and continue. "I know! He doesn't look the type but he is. He always tries to act like he isn’t, though. So, maybe they went to the planetarium together? Or the zoo. Nathan is a dick but he would never take Klaus somewhere he gets tempted too badly. When I talked to him on the phone lately, he seemed very fond of Klaus and proud of his sobriety and how he manages everything. So … He would frequent tamer locations. Behind all his bravado and dickishness, he can be quite caring if he really likes someone."

The way Simon spoke about his friend, the guy they all knew hardly anything about was quite telling to Diego. Around them, Nathan behaved like an annoying prick most the time. He never wasted a chance to poke fun at one of them or dick around. He was a prankster and a bad influence on Klaus in that regard. He was loud and obnoxious and the last thing Diego would have thought anyone to say about Nathan was that he would be caring in any way. It was true though that the twins seemed to have a good bond with each other already. And yet, Diego could still hear the insults the other man had thrown at Klaus’ face at that club. 

"The good thing," Five chimed up once more. "is that technically neither of them can die. So, we don't have to worry about their lives too much - even if the commission is behind this."

"Seriously, Five?" Allison hissed and smacked Number Five in the shoulder.

"What?" He bristled. "I’m being pragmatic."

"You’re being a bitch," Diego sighed. 

"Yeah" Vanya piped up. "I mean … not that being a bitch thing but … even though they can't die, they can still get hurt and suffer, right? And if it's Hazel and Cha-Cha … well, Klaus was tortured by them before for almost two days straight, right? We don't want something like this to happen again to either one of them."

"Okay. We are seven" Luther concluded with a sigh. "We have possibly six locations to search for him. Allison and Vanya, would you maybe check at Griddy’s?"

"No, I’m going," Five growled. "If it's Hazel and Cha-Cha, I’m gonna ask the waitress real friendly about if her boo came back."

"Nope!" Diego drawled popping the p. "That's exactly why the girls should go."

"What? Why?"

"Well, first and foremost, that woman is innocent. She has nothing to do with all this mess. You will not go there and scare the living daylights out of her. Secondly, if she doesn’t comply and answer to the girls - you, know?  _ Normal  _ people - Allison could still rumor her."

"Okay, fine." Five visible deflated. He rarely gave up so easily but it probably put his mind at ease that Allison would use her power on that waitress. She looked adamant to do so too.

"Good. That leaves five locations and five of us. We better get going."

"I swear to god," Five mumbled. "If we come back here later and those assholes are having a grand old time I will murder them and bury them under 6 feet of cement."

※※※※※※※

The punch that Hazel delivered slammed Nathan’s head against the back of his own head so that both twins hissed in pain as a result of it. He heard how Nathan spit out some blood to the side. How much time had gone by, he couldn't even say confidently anymore. It seemed days. This time, there was no Ben who could tell him how many hours had passed since he woke up here and no clock anywhere near to spell it out for him. It must’ve been hours though. There was no way around it. 

"You punch like a girl" Nathan wheezed and then laughed a little.

"That's what I told him too!" Klaus laughed. "Apparently, he has not worked on that skill so far. A shame, Hazel, really! I expected more of you. I mean we didn't see each other in months, right? And here I am, all hot and bothered and you didn't even do anything to hone your skill in the meantime? It's almost like you didn't care at all about my feelings! I thought we had something special!"

"Sorry, Bro" Nathan murmured. "I think he’s more interested in me, though. It's the Irish accent, what can I do? Works like a charm on everyone! Sorry, Mate, I’m not into guys though - and if you break my baby brother’s heart I would need to kick you in the nuts anyway. I don't make the rules!" 

"Oh God, make it stop!" Hazel moaned.

"I think Diego kicked him in the nuts last time." Klaus chuckled. "Or did he kick you in the nuts, baby girl? Well, one of you got kicked in the nuts." 

He came to regret that statement when Cha-Cha brought the hammer she had been weighing in her hands down on his right knee, making him scream in agony as he felt his bones crack under the impact. Well, running away would now no longer be an option, he supposed. Dots of black ink danced at the field of his vision. He was unable to breathe, his heart was hammering in his chest with no mercy.

"You know," Cha-cha said and leaned forward, her hands on her knees until she was at eye-level with Klaus. "this whole thing could be over and done with if you would just tell us what Five is planning. As much as I enjoy making you suffer, I really don't have time for this crap right here and would much rather go on with my work instead. I’m sure you would much rather go back home as well, right?"

"I can't tell you what I don't know!" Klaus groaned out through his teeth. "He’s not planning anything!" The hammer came down again and almost made him pass out right at the impact. He felt the urge to vomit but tried to bite down on it. Who knew what Cha-Cha would do if he would actually vomit, right?

"Leave him the fuck alone, you fucking Bitch!" Nathan yelled but his shrill voice made Klaus’ ears ring in response to it. "We don't know anything! Why is that so fucking hard to understand, you crazy fucking harpy? Lil’ Fivey doesn't plan any bloody thing, alright? He’s just being a paranoid little asshat and that's all!" 

"So, he’s paranoid?" Hazel asked. "What is he paranoid about?"

"I don't fucking know!" Nathan yelled back. He imagined spit flying from his mouth at that. "And neither does he!"

"If you’d ask me" Cha-Cha drawled. "I’d say those two assholes are absolutely full of shit." 

"So, what do you suggest?" Hazel replied. Knowing the big guy a little better by now, he could tell that his heart was not really in it, though. 

"I suggest we show our British friend over here how serious we are when we ask those questions. I doubt he’d like it much to see his “ _ twin”  _ suffer." Apparently, she still didn't believe them about being twins - not that this would be of much importance anyway right now. Not when his right knee was exploding in pain or when he just wanted to pass out and get it all over with right now. Cha-Cha’s threat barely registered in his brain too. He felt foggy and confused when she cut his ties loose and dragged him out of his chair so he would fall to the ground. His ears were ringing. He couldn't hold himself up on his numb arms and fell face-first into the ground. The first kick was sent into his right side and he was sure he could hear bones crack under the impact but that too barely registered anymore. 

"We don't know anything!" Nathan all but screeched now. _ "We don't know anything!"  _

※※※※※※※

They regrouped at midnight inside the living room of the mansion. After they had checked the places the had agreed upon and found neither Nathan nor Klaus, they had agreed to check other places those two idiots might have ended up at. Diego was the last to return to the house. He had spent hours and hours driving around in his old green car, looking at the places where Klaus used to hang around, afraid to find him in some club or some drug den with or without Nathan. Later, a part of him had even hoped for them to be in some drug den or bar just so that he could bring them both home again. They could always just work through the process of rehabilitation together again if it meant Klaus was at least safe and alive.

He had given up when Allison had called him twenty minutes ago and hoped that, by the time he would arrive at the mansion, Klaus and Nathan would be there, confused about all the turmoil that they had caused. When he walked into the house and straight to the living room, he hoped to hear Five shouting at the twins - but nothing. There was nothing like that. His siblings sat around the coffee table near the fireplace with Simon who looked decidedly more worried than before. 

"Maybe they’ll show up" Vanya sighed. She looked tired and exhausted. She should be worrying about her next concert in a few days and be spending her energy on that and not on searching for their brother and his twin all day and night. 

"Yeah, maybe" Allison agreed with a yawn. "Remember when we were teens? Klaus sometimes vanished for days while he was on a bender."

"I doubt he’s on a bender" Ben remarked dryly. They all still needed getting used to Ben being around again - alive again - and to his sarcastic and sometimes quite snappy attitude. Well, it probably came with being around Klaus for such a long time. The shit Ben had probably seen and experienced alongside Klaus had to have been quite jarring. 

"I agree with Ben," Luther said and even Five nodded along as Diego sank into the sofa next to Simon.

"I should get going" Simon muttered.

"Where?" Vanya asked.

"The hotel. I mean I hope they’ll have a room-"

"You stay here" Diego decided quickly before there could be a discussion. "You can have Nathan’s room tonight and tomorrow we’ll fix you up another room. Your stuff is in the rental car outside?"

"Uhm … yes."

"I’m gonna get it. I don't let you drive around town to find a hotel this late at night. You are probably jet-lagged and tired out of your mind." 

Simon seemed a bit uncomfortable at this turn of events but Five scoffed.

"Don't mind Diego. When he gets nervous or worried, he turns into our mother." Five remarked snappily and Diego didn't even find it in himself to glare at him. "But yes, you can stay here, it makes everything a bit easier."

"Easier to keep an eye on me?" Simon spoke exactly the words that Diego had only been thinking. He didn't seem upset, though.

"Yes." Five replied and Diego just watched Simon and Five stare at each other rather expressionless - at least on Simon’s end. He was exceptionally hard to read. 

"I get it." Simon then shrugged and nodded. "Yes, okay, I’m staying. It's more efficient too." 

"There’s two of them" Allison commented dryly before she got up from her seat. "Okay, I’m off to bed now." Vanya joined her as she walked to the door. At the door, Allison paused for a second to look over at Diego. "You go to bed too soon, okay? It's getting us nowhere if you stay up all night worrying your ass off about Klaus." 

His sister knew him well. Of course, Diego had not really planned on going to bed soon - not without knowing his brother was safe first. In fact, he had already planned on going back out and drive around some more, ask about Nathan and Klaus. So far, the only lead they had was that Nathan had been spotted at Griddy’s. The girls had spoken to Agnes, the waitress, and showed her a picture of Klaus since they didn't have one of Nathan. She had said that he had been there last night, drunk coffee and talked on the phone to someone. When she had remarked on the strong accent, they had known that she had seen Nathan and not Klaus. That was, however, where the lead died. Nathan had left the donut shop a few minutes later and that was that.

"Yeah, sure," Diego replied and Allison furrowed her brows. 

"No, really." She insisted. "Go to bed." 

With that, she turned away and finally left together with Vanya to go to bed. Diego and the others stayed back, however. He could tell that they were all strung out and full of nervous energy, even Simon, although he didn't seem too worried about Nathan, perse. 

"At least we know Nathan was at Griddy’s" Luther sighed. "If we would just know where he went after that." 

Five suddenly sat up a whole lot straighter in his seat. "Security cameras!" He blurted out.

"What?"

"Security cameras! Traffic cameras!" And before he could further explain himself, he had zapped out of existence, leaving his brothers and Simon behind in confusion. 

"Oh, yes" Simon then chimed up. "The security cameras outside might at least show us in which direction Nathan went, right? Or if maybe someone came after him." 

"So, we can only sit here and wait until he comes back." Diego sighed. 

"If he comes back." Luther agreed. "You know Five. He isn’t the type of guy who actually divulges information. He prefers keeping us in the dark about important things."

Example A: The apocalypse that had almost ended all existence just because Five had not told them right away about it and allowed them to run around like headless chickens for days. 

None of them seemed to waste any thought about going to bed anymore now. They sank into the cushions of their seats and just stared ahead in silent contemplation of the situation. It took Five fifteen minutes until he plopped back up and when he did, he was red in the face with fury. He said only one word but that word was enough to get Diego’s blood boiling.

"Hazel."

**-End of Chapter 10-**


	11. Chapter 11

Nathan Young liked to think of himself as a man of zero fears, a man who gave not one single fuck ever in his life regardless of the situation. He had lived through horrible shit, he had done horrible shit. Life had been but a game to him for such a long time that sometimes it was hard to realize that it was no game at all. After he had realized that he was immortal, he had played Russian Roulette with his own life again and again without wasting a second thought about it. And, at some point, he had started to forget that the real world was cruel and had teeth, that not everyone was immortal and could get away unscathed. 

He remembered vividly the first time that he had finally understood that his friends were not like him. The incident with that crazed lunatic who thought he was living in some video game and then hung them all from hooks had taught him that lesson. He hadn't really been afraid for his own life - he was immortal, after all - but more so for his friends, because they very much were not immortal and the possibility of losing them had been his worst nightmare at that point, even though he hadn't realized it until then. 

So, that was one moment when he had really understood that life was not just a game - ironically enough considering who their opponent was on that day. He also remembered the day when they had all sold their powers and Curtis’ girlfriend had been shot. It had been his fault. His friends wouldn't say it back then but Nathan knew that it was his fault. He had provoked the gunman and then jumped out of the way because he remembered that he had sold his power only for the guy to shoot and hit poor Nikki. Fuck, had he known that he still had his power … He shouldn't have dicked around in the first place. Not when someone was waving a gun in his fucking face. 

Life was but a game until it wasn’t. 

There were so many times when he had acted as if he was nothing more than the protagonist in a game or the hero of one of Simon’s stupid action hero movies or comics with plot armor as thick as Kim Kardashian's ass. All those times could have cost him his life - some of them had - but he had been weirdly okay with that as long as it wouldn't influence the lives of the people he loved. Not that he would claim that he would be particularly selfless or overly concerned with other people. That was more Kelly’s thing, he supposed. She was quite the humanitarian these days. But he? No. He was as selfish as they came. He didn't want his friends or loved ones to get hurt because of the way it would make  _ him  _ feel in the aftermath. 

Klaus Hargreeves, his twin brother, on the other hand … Man, that guy had issues. The worst part was, that this idiot had a heart of gold. He might have had a dubious past and did shady things but the more time Nathan spent around him the clearer the picture got in his head. It was true was the others had joked about. He was the evil twin. Clearly. Compared to him, Klaus was an actual angel. When he had first realized that, he had been afraid to spend more time with him because he tended to absolutely destroy every good thing in his life but then the need of fostering this bond between them and discovering a relationship so unlike every other relationship he had ever had before, had become overwhelming.

In Klaus’ vicinity, he had just felt good about himself. His brother knew everything about him - every  _ important  _ thing - and he was not looking at him as if he was the dirt underneath his shoes. Maybe it was because Klaus’ fall from grace had been just as spectacular as his own. Maybe it was because Klaus knew trauma and heartache and how god-awful the human race could be. He was sure that Klaus had experienced plenty of horrors out on the streets - if the guy Nathan had met at this club was anything to go buy. 

As he sat tied to this stupid chair, however, he thought that he had once again managed to poison yet another good thing in his life like he poisoned everything else. He could only sit and watch and yell profanities until his voice was hoarse as this woman beat his brother with a metal pipe as he was already on the ground and near unconscious. 

Klaus was immortal, just like him - well, maybe not to the same extent but still. He had to remind himself of that fact again and again. His heart was still beating out of his chest in pure fear for his brother. Regardless of whether or not Klaus couldn't die, he was still in pain and was suffering. He wasn't meant to suffer. Fuck, he was only in this situation because he had probably left the house in search of him, right? If he had just gone straight to the hotel or not been such a little bitch and went back to the mansion, none of this would have happened!

Once again it was  _ his  _ fucking fault what happened. Once again, someone he loved was getting hurt because of  _ his  _ fucking stupidity.

"I’m gonna break his spine next if you don't fucking tell us what you know about Five’s plans!" Cha-Cha yelled.

"I don't know anything!" Nathan said for what must be the hundredths time by now. His voice was completely hoarse at this point. He had no strength left inside of him to yell anymore. "I don't know anything. I met them only a week ago … I don't know anything!  _ Please _ , that's the truth." 

"I don't think that he’s lying." Hazel, the big guy who had captured Nathan, the same man he had seen at Griddy’s, said at last to his partner. The glare that she shot him, though, was borderline murderous. He imagined Hazel turning into stone underneath her glare. "He would have said something by now if he knew anything, don't you think? I mean, listen to that asshole! He’s a wimp. I doubt he would cover for someone like Five."

"I wouldn't" Nathan agreed wholeheartedly right away. He didn't have nearly enough pride to take offense to being called a wimp. "the little dude freaks me out!"

"Plus," Hazel said. "Five is too smart to entrust someone like this guy with any kind of valuable information." 

"We’re not getting anywhere with this" Cha-Cha concluded with a sigh and dropped the metal pipe that she held in her hands. Help me tie that bastard up again." At least they stopped beating his brother. He watched how Hazel lifted Klaus off of the ground without any problem to discard him back on the chair and tie him up again. 

Klaus looked rough. His face was covered in blood as it ran from his mouth and his nose, his hair was clumped in the sticky dark liquid and he was already littered in bruises, even though most of them were invisible underneath his clothes. Nathan was certain that his baby brother looked much worse underneath them. After Hazel finished his work on Klaus, Cha-Cha and he left the room - probably to discuss their next steps. Kaus, however, hung almost limply in his bounds. 

"Fuck" Nathan whispered. "Fuck, Klaus … What are we gonna do now?"

"Can't you" Klaus’ voice came out raspy and dry but he was at least still conscious enough to speak. Maybe that was not such a good thing, though. "magic us out?"

"No" He sighed. "My magic is more like … tricks. Like … magic tricks… Like David Copperfield." 

"David Copperfield could get out of restraints."

"Yeah, I mean … Maybe I could but then what?"

"We overpower them."

"We do what now?" He echoed. "I don't know if you’ve noticed it but you are not really in the right condition to keep yourself upright at the moment and I am really not much of a fighter. Let's just assume, I get out of my restraints and get you free, okay? Let's further assume that I take that iron pipe the crazy bitch used on you. So: I hide next to the door, they come back inside, I hit one of them. If I hit the big guy, he will probably not even feel it. If I hit the bitch, she will just be pissed off. Either way, no damage has been done to our captors and now they are pissed off and ready to smash our heads in. However, even if we assume,  _ by some miracle _ , we could get them to pass out or something, that would leave us with the problem that your knee is probably shattered into a million pieces and that you can’t walk on your own.  _ That  _ would mean that I would have to drag your ass out of wherever we are and manage to escape with you. In the time it would take us to get out of the building, those assholes would probably already be back on our tail."

"Not the best plan … I admit." 

"I hate to say it but … I think we have to wait and hope that your family will find us."

※※※※※※※

In the beginning, Diego had assumed that knowing where his brother was, would make everything easier. However, now that he knew, he felt frozen in terror. Five had actually stolen the tape from the security camera just outside of Griddy’s that had caught Hazel attacking Nathan and played it for them. Now it was the only thing Diego could see. If Hazel had Nathan - how big were the chances that Cha-Cha, by some strange coincidence, had caught Klaus? Usually, he would claim that there was no way that both of the twins had had a run-in with the assassins but knowing the twins and knowing how strange their life had been until now … Cha-Cha and Hazel probably had both of them.

Ben was fuming after they had gotten to this conclusion. He was pacing the living room, muttering to himself. Their brother still needed getting used to the fact that they could see and hear him again, as he was probably so used to muttering to himself without anyone hearing him. 

"This is all my fucking fault" Ben groaned at some point. "I shouldn't have told Klaus to go after him!"

At least one of the twins would be safe then. Then again, Klaus would have probably gone after Nathan regardless of what Ben had told him to do, right? Even sober-Klaus usually couldn't be told what to do or what not to do. He had always been like this and he would always be like this - the same as Nathan too. Still, it was only natural for Ben to blame himself as it was the same thing Diego did too. 

"Okay, that's of no use" Five commented dryly on Ben’s pacing. "We know now that the Commission really is sending agents after us again. They probably think that I am planning to take them down or some crazy shit like this."

"Are you not?"

"Until now?" Five scoffed. "I didn't think that it was possible but if they are concerned that I would do something like this, it appears that it  _ is  _ indeed possible. And since they took my brother  _ again _ , I think I might consider it. Frankly, I am a bit tired of rescuing Klaus or anyone else from the hands of the Commission’s agents." 

"Careful, Five" Diego sighed. "It almost looks like you cared."

"I do care" Five snarled. "Just because I’m not holding Klaus’ hand all the time or practically mother him to death, does not mean that I do not care about him. He’s my brother and I consider it a personal affront that the commission came after my family again." 

"So what now?"

"Well, since we know it's Hazel and Cha-Cha, we have one ace in the hole."

"No!" Diego spat. "You will not go after that poor donut lady. She has nothing to do with this."

"Her  _ boyfriend  _ took Nathan." Five hissed. "Her  _ boyfriend  _ probably also has Klaus. They take something from us, I’m taking something from them." Before he could even say anything, Five had already blinked out of existence. 

"Fuck!" Diego yelled. There was no point in trying to go after Five either. He could only wait for the little bastard to return to their house with Agnes in tow. He just hoped that Five wouldn't hurt her in any way. Sure, Five was not a bad person perse, he still had a good heart, but he was ruthless when he thought that he had been wronged personally. 

During all of this madness, Simon looked mildly concerned. And, judging by what they knew now about Simon’s experiences in the past with all this superhero bullshit, he was probably used to a good dose of crazy. Especially, since he was Nathan Young’s best friend. It took only a couple of minutes until Five popped back into the living room and deposited a very much unconscious waitress on the couch in the center of the room.

"What the fuck, Five?" Ben swore as he jumped back from the couch as if burned. "You can't just run around abducting innocent people! She didn't fucking do anything!"

"She’s his  _ girlfriend _ ! If he hurts my brother, let's see what we can cut off of her until Hazel gives up!"

"We are not cutting anything off of her!" Diego growled. "She probably doesn’t even know anything anyway! Do you really think that Hazel tells her about all his time travel shenanigans or the people he kidnaps and tortures? I fucking doubt it!"

"I would tell Dolores everything!"

"Yeah, but Dolores is a fucking  _ mannequin _ ! Not much of a fucking chance that she’ll walk around telling people your secrets, right?" Ben shot back, clearly fed-up with Five’s bullshit. It was this moment that Diego fully grasped how much he had missed Ben. Ben had always been the best of them, sure, but he had always been one sassy bastard as well and pretty much the only one who had not bought into Five’s bullshit.

Simon suddenly got up from his seat. "Not to take any sides here" He muttered slowly. "but now that the lady is here, we might as well question her. Mark it down that I specifically refrained from saying that we should torture her."

"I like that guy" Five murmured.

"You heard that he said  _ no torture _ , right?" Ben snickered as he walked over to the couch to check on Agnes. He felt for her pulse and then arranged her legs properly on the couch before he pulled a blanket over her. 

"I hope you didn't beat her." Diego turned to his brother with flashing eyes.

"No, I used chloroform, of course."

"Do I want to know where you got chloroform from?"

"No." 

Maybe this situation would be comical if Klaus and Nathan wouldn't be in so much danger and if there was not an unconscious woman lying on their couch. Well, he couldn't really say that this was the weirdest thing that had ever happened to him. 

※※※※※※※

Hazel and Cha-Cha had left them alone and there was no telling how long they would be gone. By now, it seemed hours but he couldn't be sure about that. All he could tell was that he was in stupid amounts of pain. He was struggling to breathe. Cha-Cha had gone the extra mile to break one or two of his ribs, he would assume. Well, she had been pissed at him. Hopefully, she got a release of that anger now and wouldn't go as hard on him anymore. If they were lucky, those two assholes would just leave them alone and check on them sporadically until they could use them to bargain with Five.

"I’m sorry" Nathan muttered beside him and Klaus barely had enough energy left to open his eyes to look at his brother. 

"Hmm?" He managed to get out.

"For … being such a dick to you at the club. I shouldn't have said these things and I … If I hadn't run off like a little bitch, those assholes would have never captured us both."

"It's-"

"If you gonna say it's fine, I swear, I’m gonna kill you, Mate."

He huffed out a dry laugh. 

"How are you not mad at me? It's all my fault."

"You’re my brother" Klaus explained quietly. "And I have done fucked up shit in the past. I cheated, I stole, I whored myself out for scraps or a warm place to sleep … You were angry and afraid. I get it." 

He knew that Nathan didn't like to hear something like this being said about him, yet, there was no sarcastic retort being thrown his way, to Klaus' surprise. "I was" Nathan admitted. "Afraid, I mean. When this guy attacked me and tried to drag me into that stall … I was terrified."

"I’m sorry."

"No, Dingus," Nathan replied sharply. "I wasn't terrified because of me. I was terrified because I thought, at that moment, that this was something that probably happened a lot to you in some fashion out there!"

"Oh," He didn't even know what to say to this. He had had this discussion with Diego before, had told his brother what he had done out there to survived and Diego had reacted with fury on his behalf. He had been angry and devastated. In a way, Klaus wouldn't have thought that Nathan would care at all. 

"Yeah" He huffed. "I would love to go back and beat the shit out of that dude. You’re my little brother after all. Ain't nobody gonna mess with my little brother."

"I’m touched."

"You know what? I’m gonna get out of here and leave you."

Klaus couldn't help but breathe out a hoarse little laugh at this. "Don't worry … they’ll find us." 

"Shouldn't we try to get out though?"

"I can't run" Klaus mused quietly. Nathan had said it himself, after all. He refused even looking at his legs. There was no way that he would be able to escape this time - Cha-Cha made sure of that. She probably didn't want a repeat of last time she had him in her clutches. Fuck. Fuck this fucking shit. "But you should try."

"No way" His brother hissed. "I’m not gonna leave you here." 

"Fine" He hummed. "Then we die together."

"Good thing we are immortal"

"Sure, but they can still cut off a few limbs, I guess," Klaus suggested quietly. He wouldn't really put it past Cha-Cha to pull out a chainsaw soon. Hazel … Well, he knew that Hazel wasn't really in it with all his heart anymore. It had been obvious during their first rodeo already and even now the main brunt of the torture had been Cha-Cha’s doing. 

"You should try to get out, Nathan" Klaus tried again and immediately as his brother opened his mouth, he cut him off again. "I’m serious, dude. Try to find a phone or something, tell someone where we are. Hey … do you still have your phone with you?" 

"No, the big dude took it" Nathan grunted. "Barry would know what to do"

"We have to do something" Klaus groaned. "We can't just sit here and wait for them to return to continue." 

"Don't you have any handy dandy ghosts around to help?"

"Funnily enough, no." Klaus sighed. There were a few vaguely human-shaped shadows lingering in his periphery but in his current condition, he wouldn't even know if he would be strong enough to do anything with any ghost right now. If Ben would still be a ghost that would be actually very helpful but his brother wasn’t here right now. He was busy being squishy and alive again. "I have an idea, though" He then said and directed his eyes at Nathan again. "But you’re not gonna like it."

"Tell me then"

"You have to die" 

※※※※※※※

"I don't know anything" Agnes looked terrified as she looked from Five to Diego. "I promise you, I don't know where your brother is"

"I told you that was a stupid idea!" Diego sighed. "Let her go, Five."

"No!"

"Five!" Allison sighed from behind them. By now, they had all gathered in the living room again. Dawn threw an orange glow through the large window into the room. Diego had not slept at all since they had realized that Klaus and Nathan were missing. "Come on!" 

Of course, Five’s decision to kidnap Agnes had garnered some criticism - not that it would deter Five by any means at all. Of course, it fucking wouldn't. 

"She has to know something" Five hissed but as he turned back to ask the poor lady more questions, Ben cut in. 

"Okay, that's enough, Five. Take a step back, okay?" Number Six sighed and walked closer. Diego watched how Ben sat down on the coffee table in front of Agnes and she seemed immediately a lot calmer. Well, Ben just had this effect on people. For being the person with the most destructive powers - apart from Vanya - he had learned to be calm and this calmness was radiating from him in waves now too. 

Five gave a very undignified little sound as a response as he walked away from the couch. However, his path only directed him towards the bar where he quickly poured himself a drink despite the early morning hours. Diego too was craving a stiff drink right now. As far as they knew, Nathan and Klaus were gone for a little over twenty-four hours now. The first forty-eight hours of any missing person case were always the most crucial. 

"Miss Rofa" Ben addressed the waitress quietly. "Maybe you could just tell us what happened the night you saw our brother at the donut shop." Diego wanted to correct Ben and say that it hadn't been their brother - then again, Nathan kinda was their brother, wasn’t he? He was Klaus’ brother. He was family.

"Well" Agnes began and her voice was still trembling a little but for the fact that she had been kidnapped and then confronted with a tiny angry man in schoolboy clothes, she was remarkably calm. "Your brother entered the shop at around two in the morning. I know that because I switched on the extruder at that time. I always do this when I have the night shift - as I had that night."

"Was someone else there too?"

"Oh, please Ben!" Five spat. "We already know Hazel was there because I saw the fucking security footage!"

"Yes" Agnes answered. "Hazel was there. He was gone for a few months … it had something to do with his work. He came back a few days ago and that night he dropped by the donut shop."

"Is there anything _peculiar_ he spoke about?"

"Not really" Agnes sighed. "He lamented about his partner. If I’m honest, I don't like that lady very much. She is rude and very aggressive. Hazel told me - last time he was in the city - that he wanted to retire from his job. Actually, we had plans to leave and settle down somewhere else but then he had to leave. He seemed even more unhappy when he dropped by the other night. He talked about wanting to leave his work behind but that there was still one contract he needed to fulfill. I don't know what that means but I tried my best cheering him up. Now that I think about it, he started to behave a little strange when your brother came in - almost as if he would know him. Your brother didn't react to Hazel at all, however."

"And our brother, what did he do?" Again, Five gave a gut-wrenching groan.

"He was talking on the phone to someone. I remember being a bit surprised when I heard his accent. I mean … Of course, I do know who you are. You came to the shop so often when you were children, after all. I recognized him right away from the last time he was there with you" She pointed at Vanya and then a penny seemed to drop. "Oh" She said. "Oh, that was not Klaus was it?" Diego was surprised that she even knew their names apparently. Then again, they had recently given a TV interview and it was like she had said: they had been to Griddy’s loads when they were children and managed to sneak out. "That was his twin brother in my shop the other night."

"Yeah" Diego sighed. "But Klaus has also vanished and every bit of information could honestly help us."

"I understand" Agnes’ face was determined to help them now, determined to remember every tiny bit of information that she had possibly retained that night. "So, the young man talked on the phone to a friend. He seemed agitated. I remember that he said to his friend that he felt bad for what he did and how he behaved that night. Hazel actually left shortly after the young man came in. He ordered coffee - black. After he ended his phone call, he drank the cup, paid for it, and left."

"And after that?"

"Well, after that I cleaned up the kitchen and got everything ready for the customers that would usually come early in the morning. The police department down the road likes to pick up a few boxes of eclairs and donuts each morning and so I started to prepare their usual order." 

"Have you met Hazel since that night?"

"No. I assumed that he was busy working." Agnes shrugged.

"This is getting us nowhere" Five scoffed. "I say we keep her here and give Hazel a message. Klaus and Nathan in exchange for Agnes, or else." 

"We can't do that, Five!" Diego hissed. "We are no criminals!" 

"We do what has to be done!"

"Not like this, Five! It would make us no better than the criminals that we try to fight!" Before Five could say anything else, however, Agnes let out a terrified scream and pointed shakily at the doorway right behind Diego. He whirled around to see what it was. At first, he couldn't see what Agnes was so afraid of, then he noticed a blue kind of hue hovering in mid-air. The hue slowly started to take the shape of a human - of a man just as tall as Diego himself.

**-End of Chapter 11-**


	12. Chapter 12

Provoking Cha-Cha was easy. That was, what Klaus had told him and what he had witnessed for himself as well. Provoking people into wanting to kill him was also kinda his thing, one might say. It was, so to say, his secret profession. Simon once said that he had a mouth that was running 180 miles per hour. Curtis had said that he had a very punchable face. He wondered if the former athlete would say the same thing to his twin brother. Compared to Nathan, Klaus was an angel. His friends would have probably liked him - even though Klaus could be just as annoying as he was. Maybe it was a different flavor of being annoying, though. Klaus never aimed to offend others, after all, while everything that came out of Nathan’s mouth seemed offensive to other people. Now as an adult Nathan knew of course that him being obnoxious, loud, and offensive had aimed as a self-defense mechanism. Everyone had always made fun of him or been rude or aggressive towards him. Developing this persona had meant he could beat them to it. Klaus, on the other hand, had seemingly found very different coping mechanisms - including the drugs. 

"I only ever did this once with Ben" Klaus informed Nathan. "And under much better conditions and even then it was hard. I can't promise you that it's gonna work." His brother really didn't have the confidence he wanted someone who told him to go on a suicide mission to have. He should never start a career in sales. Well, Nathan had enough confidence for them both. 

"Who are you sending me to?"

"Diego" Klaus replied immediately. "I … It's hard to explain. There needs to be a strong connection for it to work - either on the side of the ghost to the person I’m sending them to or on my side. And since there is no one in this country you share a strong connection to, besides me, perhaps, I’m gonna go for Diego. His energy is easier to find then Ben’s, to be honest."

"Yeah, that guy radiates anger." Nathan huffed. He liked the knife-wielding psycho but he was a bit cuckoo and he definitely had unresolved anger issues. "Okay, I should be able to find him then. Just … Don't mess it up"

"Me? I need you to not go back to your body or resurrect yourself accidentally. I don't even know if this works with you. I mean, Ben was dead-dead … you … I don't even know." 

"Let's be optimistic about this, okay?"

"If you insist." Klaus sighed. He could tell that his brother was doing badly, though. He had taken the brunt of the torture. Sure, Hazel had done a number on him too but Klaus had had it much worse. Apparently, that Cha-Cha-lady really hated Klaus’ guts.  _ They had history _ , Klaus had told him. 

While they were sitting anxiously waiting in their seats for the return of Cha-Cha and Hazel, hours seemed to tick by. Surely, loverboy went back to his donut lady by now. When the door finally creaked open, Nathan was almost relieved. Sure, he wasn’t looking forward to being killed again but at least it would give him something to do and perhaps even help the situation after he had messed up in the first place. Weird to think that his death might actually help his brother. Better not think too much about it.

"Oh, thank god you’re back!" Nathan cawed immediately as the two time-traveling assassins walked in on them. Cha-Cha already seemed pissed just by looking at Nathan’s blood-covered face. He was sure that Hazel had broken his nose but it didn't hurt as badly anymore. "I missed you so much, Baby! To be honest, I was growing a bit jealous, you know? My brother got all the attention from you! I want in on the fun, baby-cakes!"

Cha-Cha greeted him with a slap and, well, wasn’t that promising? He was already halfway there to being killed.

※※※※※※※

It was certainly the weirdest feeling that he had ever experienced in his life - or, not life? Tomaytos, Tomahtos! Until now, after death, there had been nothing else for him. He had died and then there had been only darkness until he woke up again as if nothing had happened. 

It was the very first time that he actually found himself in this state - whatever it was. He wasn’t a ghost, was he? For a moment, he just hovered and stared down at his own body slumped in the chair he was still tied to. He had thought that Cha-Cha would be a little more creative when it came to actually killing him. A gunshot to the head seemed really a little lame all things considered. He had much more creative deaths in the past, after all!

Then again, there was brain splattered all over the wall behind his dead body and Klaus looked ready to vomit - if not mildly traumatized. Sure, his brother had seen weird and fucked-up shit in his life before but having his own twin brother get his brains blown out right next to him would mess anyone up. Somehow Klaus looked even worse now as their eyes met. He could see that it was exhausting for Klaus - whatever he was doing to keep Nathan in that form. Was he doing anything at all? Was Klaus responsible for Nathan being a ghost instead of the usual dark cloud of nothingness that would swallow him? Maybe it had something to do with their powers working in harmony right now that they were together.

Well, now was certainly not the time to think about shit like this. Still, he found himself mesmerized as he drove his hand straight through Hazel’s back. "Weird!" He exclaimed with a laugh. Klaus, however, gave a grunt. "Yes, yes! Moving on, I know! Relax, Buddy! Don't get yourself killed while I’m gone, okay?" 

He didn't really know what to do or where to go from here. Then again, if he wanted to be of any help for Klaus’ siblings, he would need to tell them where they were, right? He phased through the door and found himself in a dark, narrow corridor. 

"Ah, they chose the serial killer compound! Good choice!" He called, hoping that Klaus might hear him through the door and appreciate his discovery. As he stepped out of the room, he felt a tug to his non-existent body. 

In a way, it felt a bit similar to what he had felt when Ben came back to life and drained his fucking energy. He felt like he was being pulled away from his body by an invisible rope around his midriff while he should be pulled back into his body instead. If he wouldn't be who he was and actually think about the consequences of his actions, this sensation might have been scary but it was more fascinating to him now. He decided to follow the tugging sensation because if Klaus actually knew what he was doing, it would lead him to Diego and he probably didn't have that much time left considering what bad state his twin was in right now. 

The tugging became stronger and Nathan found himself floating down the corridor as if he was moving through space and time. He had to actually focus on his surroundings to take in as much detail as he could. He was being pulled up a steep metal staircase and through a set of metal doors into what looked to be an abandoned factory. He could see the old conveyor belts and the machinery that seemed to have been abandoned decades ago. A denim jacket hung on the edge of one of the large machines - forgotten by a worker or some rowdy teen that broke into the factory years ago. 

Then he was outside and had no idea how that happened. He could see the factory from the outside, the rusty sign above the gate screaming  _ Miller’s Cannery est. 1868  _ back at him and then he was no longer at the factory at all - no longer near Klaus. If that was what teleporting was like, he didn't envy Five anymore. It sucked, quite frankly, as he was pulled through the fabric of space itself only to end up inside the academy. His molecules were in complete disarray, he didn't know which way was up and which way was down anymore. He imagined having a crushing headache even though that was complete bullshit.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" He exclaimed as he looked around the front hall. He could hear voices close by. The living room! They were in the living room and that was exactly the place he felt drawn to as well. 

"We can't do that, Five!" He heard the unmistakable voice of Diego yell and was ecstatic that Klaus’ plan had actually worked. He had managed to get him to Diego! "We are no criminals!" 

"We do what has to be done!" Five, that little munchkin-man replied sharply in anger. Through the archway, he could see that they had all gathered in the living room but no one seemed able to see him. Fuck! There was this donut lady sitting on the sofa, looking a bit worried but at least unharmed. Had Five kidnapped her? He wouldn't put it past the little psycho.

"Fuck, Klaus!" He yelled even though neither his brother nor Klaus’ siblings would be able to hear him. "They can't see me!" 

"Not like this, Five! It would make us no better than the criminals that we try to fight!" 

However, as if some higher power had heard him and decided to intervene, he started to feel a little weird. Well, weirder than it felt to be an actual ghost. First, he was sure that it was his body calling him back, or worse, the beyond. He could feel energy sizzling through him like when he was a child and placed the palm of his hand on their old TV, amused by the prickling of the static coming from the device. Then, Agnes, the donut lady, suddenly let out a scream and pointed straight at him.

It was only then that he realized that besides the Hargreeves’ siblings and Agnes, another familiar face had joined the group.

"What is that?" Simon exclaimed surprised as he looked in his direction. His reaction, however, made Nathan pause for a second as he couldn't help but wonder what they were seeing right now. It was obviously not just ghost-Nathan, right? Simon wouldn't react in this way if he was just ghost-Nathan! Was he not like Ben when Klaus had made him corporal? Weird. And yet, he had never been happier to see Simon than he was right now. Simon with his ridiculously logical mind and his creepy stare. Simon would know what to do! Simon would figure this shit out!

"Barry!" He called instead of wasting more time pondering about the situation.

※※※※※※※

The blue, vaguely human-shaped cloud that was hovering in the living room suddenly called out to them - or rather Simon. The voice had a weird, hollow sound to it but the name it called clearly spoke to what or rather  _ who  _ it was. 

"Nathan?" Simon immediately replied while the rest of them still had a hard time wrapping their heads around what was happening right in front of them. 

"Barry, thank God!" The phantom of Nathan Young spoke again as it still refused to take proper shape. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to visit" Simon replied with a confused face as if this situation was completely normal to him. Five cut in, interrupting the reunion and cutting straight to the point. Sure, they all had questions, they were all confused about Nathan’s apparition and how that seemed even possible but they also needed to find Klaus and Nathan. At least one of them wasn’t thrown off completely by the weirdness of the situation and kept a cool and clear head.

"Where are you, Nathan?" Five stepped forward towards the ghost. "Where is Klaus?"

"This really mean lady and her partner have us!"

"Hazel and Cha-Cha" Diego frowned.

"Yeah!" He could almost see him grin widely as if it was just one big joke. "We are" And then the apparition started to flicker, the voice became even more distorted, like a bad radio signal going in and out of focus. They were losing him - and rapidly so. "Cannery … abandoned" that was all they were able to make out before Nathan’s ghost suddenly vanished into thin air as quickly as it had appeared.

"Fuck!" Diego yelled. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! You can't be fucking serious! This fucking moron!"

Nathan had wasted precious time rambling instead of cutting to the point like Five had and now they had to go on a wild goose chase to find them! Oh, he was going to strangle that idiot as soon as they would have found him and Klaus. That was, of course, if Hazel and Cha-Cha would not dismember Nathan’s body and scatter his body parts all over the city.

"Calm down," Allison said as she walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. It was meant to be comforting but it only agitated him more.

"No, I agree with Diego here" Five huffed. "That moron!"

"Guys" Ben sighed from behind them. As Diego and Five spun around to look at him, he was raising his hands placating as if he tried soothing two tigers in the wilderness. Just like Simon Bellamy, Ben seemed completely calm and collected. That was probably what years of being a ghost and tied to your addict brother did to a person. There seemed to be nothing that could surprise Ben Hargreeves anymore now. He remembered how Ben had once told them about the Horror when they were children and what he said about how he was controlling it.  _ It takes over control when I’m angry,  _ he had told them,  _ so I need to remain calm. It's easier to control it when I’m always terrified of it coming out.  _ "We know that they are at some abandoned cannery. How many could there possibly be in this city?"

It turned out, there were quite a lot of them in this city. Abandoned factories, abandoned canneries, abandoned warehouses. They were littered all across the city, a goldmine for people like Hazel and Cha-Cha on the hunt for a remote location to torture and perhaps even kill someone. Diego had known that from the get-go. After all, how many times had he spent night after night in search of his brother at places like these? Junkies loved abandoned warehouses and factories. They were ideal to squat in or have a rave at. 

The realization of how long it would actually take them to find the right location now that Five had mapped out every single abandoned warehouse or factory on a map of the city, had hit the group like a punch to the nuts. Their city was huge and the surrounding area even bigger. There were over fifty possible locations for them to check in the city and the immediate outskirts.

"I’m saying we keep Agnes here" Five groaned. "Just in case we need her as leverage."

"That would work if Hazel would be working alone" Vanya finally addressed the situation with a sigh. It became clear to Diego that she had given the possibility of using Agnes against Hazel some consideration in the past hours. Five was a bad influence on her. "But Cha-Cha won’t care about any of that."

"Yes, she seems to only care for her job" Diego agreed. "She couldn't care less about what we do with  _ her _ ." 

Agnes still sat there on the sofa, seemingly completely calm after Grace had brought her tea and something to eat. She was the best kidnapping victim anyone could ever hope for. She was calm and collected and didn't seem afraid of them in the slightest, yet willing to cooperate. 

"Besides" Luther chimed in. "They will know that we won’t do anything to her."

"Speak for yourself" Five huffed. "But okay, go off then, what are we supposed to do then?"

"Well, first we let her leave" Diego decided sternly. "We kept her far too long anyway. She has nothing to do with any of this." 

"And then what?" Five growled. "Then our only chance is to search all of those locations until we find them!"

"That could take too long." Luther agreed with Five quietly. "It would take at least an entire day even if we would split up again. Probably two. Most of those areas are huge." 

"I have an idea" Simon suddenly chimed in again. Diego had almost forgotten about his existence in the same room. It was easy to forget about Simon. When he would get all quiet it was almost as if he was blending into the background. He had been listening quietly for the most part of their discussion, staring and gaining information, as it seemed. "That is if Agnes has any means of contacting Hazel." 

Everyone turned to Agnes who had her teacup in hand and looked at them a bit startled by the sudden attention. She looked at them with big eyes now and then hastily nodded. "He will probably drop by today." She then replied. "He drops by almost every day. His last visit was in the night the young man went missing."

"Then I can follow him." Now the focus was on Simon and he shrugged. "I can turn invisible." 

Finally, Diego thought he could take a deep breath again. They had a chance now. Sure, they could also go and search through every fucking abandoned factory and warehouse out there and that would usually be his own approach but maybe Simon’s approach was better this time.

"We could still search for them," Luther muttered, echoing the thought Diego just had and abandoned.

"Yes, and then we would get into a fight with Hazel and Cha-Cha and whoever else might be with them." Five replied calmly for once. Last time they had fought those two assholes at once that hadn't gone so well. Then again, last time, they didn't have Vanya and her crazy superpowers or Ben and the Horror on their team. 

"We should go with Simon’s idea" Diego sighed. "I don't like sitting around and waiting but it's our best chance. He’s the wild card. They don't know him. They don't know his powers. The same goes for Nathan."

"But if that was Nathan’s ghost … that would mean that they killed him and they will understand his power now when he comes back." Allison interrupted with a worried frown. She had taken to the Irishman quickly, despite his obnoxious tendencies. 

"Which means we have to hope that Hazel drops by the shop soon. We don't have much time, perhaps only a few hours." Ben murmured. "Even if they discover his immortality, they still don’t know that Klaus technically can’t die either. And if they discover that Nathan is immortal … there really is no telling what they might do to him. Hazel is the tamer one of the two but I bet Cha-Cha wouldn’t waste a second to cut his head off or something. We don't even know what he can come back from, after all, and what his body can heal during the resurrection."

"They can still cut off their limbs" Allison agreed quietly. "What? Sorry! Just a thought! Just because they won't be able to kill the twins it doesn't mean they suddenly don't have any leverage anymore, right? I doubt that Nathan can regrow an arm or a leg and Klaus definitely can't." 

"Okay," Simon decided. "Then it's decided. Miss Rofa will now return to the donut shop and I will accompany her. I will wait there until this man shows up and I will follow him to wherever he has taken Nathan and Klaus. As soon as I have found the location, I will contact you."

"Don't engage in a fight with them." Five warned. "They are dangerous and highly skilled assassins. Cha-Cha is brutal and quick, Hazel … well, he isn't in it with his heart but he is still a force to be reckoned with." 

※※※※※※※

He had come to America to meet his friend Nathan and his new family. He had come to support Nathan and make sure that his friend -  _ his best friend  _ \- would not mess up this new chance he had gotten. He had come to be there and talk to him because he knew Nathan - and he knew what a hard time his friend actually had dealing with his emotions. It couldn't be easy, to digest the things he had found out lately. Nathan always put up this larger than life persona, this cocky front. He was spewing crude comments and offensive nonsense and people wouldn't question the motives behind it. It was easy to overlook the sensitive core his friend had because of the way he liked to behave all the time. Frankly, it had taken Simon years to fully grasp it.

He came to the U.S. to be a good friend to Nathan and catch him when he might need him the most. Now, however, he was sitting at a table at _ Griddy’s Doughnuts  _ being invisible and waiting for a temporal assassin to walk in and buy donuts. He wanted to say that this was the weirdest thing he had ever experienced but he didn't know if he could say that with confidence. Ever since that freak storm gave him and his friends their powers, everything was just always weird and crazy. And being Nathan Young’s best friend did not exactly help in that regard. 

He watched how Agnes was going about her business as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened to her at all lately. She was just as chipper as she always seemed to be, chatting with customers, humming to the tune of the music coming from the speakers, serving coffee and donuts. Nobody would be able to tell that she had been kidnapped and questioned by a group of childhood superheroes just hours ago. 

He sat there for two hours and was more than ready to sit for even longer as the door opened. Simon had always been patient. He had once before sat waiting for hours in the locker room of the community center. Sitting and waiting was easy. He was a silent observer to the world and he had learned a whole lot of things through that. Now, however, as the door opened, a man stepped inside dressed in a dark blue suit. He was huge and the smile Agnes gave him was different than the smile he gave her other customers. That was him then. Huh. This guy was almost as massive as Luther was and certainly less friendly. 

As he approached the counter, on the other hand, he seemed in a good mood, smiling friendly at the woman behind it. He couldn't hear what they were saying but Agnes was laughing about something he said. She was playing her role well. They had told her not to make Hazel suspicious with anything she would do or say and she was providing as it seemed - even ignoring the fact that her boyfriend had kidnapped two people to torture them. 

Hazel stayed for fifteen minutes, eating two donuts, drinking coffee, and chatting with Agnes before he finally left again. Simon was quick to get up from his previous position and follow him outside before the door could shut. 

He managed to sneak into Hazel’s car without the big guy noticing. he had become good at that kind of stuff by now. Invisible to the other man, they drove through the town until they reached a less populated area. He could see a factory in the distance, large chimneys rising into the sky. There it was: the cannery Nathan had spoken about.  _ Miller’s Cannery est. 1868  _ read the sign above the front gate of the property. Hazel drove through the open gate, parked the car near the entrance, and got out. He didn't bother locking the car. So far out of town, there was no one to steal it anyway. Simon waited until Hazel got into the building before he got out of the car and quickly messaged Diego with the location, only then he followed the large man inside.

※※※※※※※

He was completely drained of all energy and he still had no idea if his plan had even worked out. What if it hadn't? What if Nathan died for nothing and his siblings were still none the wiser? Hours had passed and Nathan had yet to wake up again. Hazel had disappeared a little while ago and left Cha-Cha to brood and watch over their captives.

"We need to get rid of the body" Cha-Cha addressed Hazel as the big guy walked through the door. "He will start to smell soon and it's enough if we keep one of them. He’s not even a Hargreeves. As long as we keep the junkie, that should be enough to gain leverage over Five." 

"We could throw him out on the street in front of the house as a warning" Hazel suggested. "Like: See we killed one of them, we still got one of them left, don't fuck with us. We could tell Five this way to meet us somewhere if he wants the other one back alive. I mean obviously those assholes don’t know anything about Five’s plans, otherwise one of them would have cracked by now." Hazel pointed at Klaus. "He would have cracked after we killed his twin. So, I guess, our best option to get our hands on Five would be to draw him out of hiding. The Handler said to find out about his plans but if we would just kill him, he can no longer make plans and she can still have the apocalypse, albeit a bit belated." 

"We could" Cha-Cha sighed. "Or we could just throw him in a vat of acid and get rid of the evidence. He was not part of the plan, after all. The Handler will be pissed about us killing someone who wasn’t involved again. But I like the idea of sending them a message." 

"Okay then." Hazel sighed. "We should wait for nightfall though, in that case." 

Nightfall, Klaus thought dizzily. Nightfall. He had no idea how much time was left. He could only hope that Nathan would stay dead until then - otherwise, they just might get a problem. At least they didn't want to throw him into a vat of acid. 

**-End of Chapter 12-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! It makes my day <3


	13. Chapter 13

He wanted to go in alone and at least see how Nathan and Klaus were doing. However, he followed the big guy only to the door and then listened with his ear pressed against the cold steel. He had seen Nathan and Klaus for a brief second as the door opened but not nearly long enough to assess the damage done to them - except for the fact that Nathan was clearly dead at the moment. Sure, he could’ve crept in with Hazel but then what? He could fight, yes, but he would never be able to take someone like Hazel out - probably not even someone like Cha-Cha. Then again, if the stories he had heard were true, Cha-Cha was the real threat.

He went back outside, waiting for the others to arrive and form a plan with them. He felt a little nervous walking these narrow, claustrophobic corridors and the factory grounds. It was the perfect place for an ambush, that much was certain. He didn't know much about the enemy, sure, but something told him that it wasn’t as easy as it seemed right now. He felt like he was being watched - which was completely impossible, of course. 

As the others arrived in two fancy Rolls Royce, they met outside of the factory grounds just to be sure. "So, they are in there" Simon pointed at the abandoned factory behind him. "I’ve seen them."

"Then let's go and find them" Diego immediately grunted, ready to shoulder past Simon but it was Luther, Number One, holding him back by his shoulder.

"We should make a plan first."

"Yeah? So what's your big plan then, huh?" Diego, predictably, hissed at his brother. "I don't need a plan for something like this! We go in, take them both out, and rescue our brothers."

And there it was. Simon didn't even know if Diego was aware of what he had just said. He wasn't sure if his other siblings were aware of what Diego had just said. Maybe now was not the time to ponder such thoughts either. It seemed unimportant right now. 

"I would suggest" Simon spoke up before the siblings could start arguing once more. "We should make sure that both Klaus and Nathan are safe before we attack Hazel and Cha-Cha. They hold the twins in a room downstairs. Taking the fight there would serve the potential of harming one of us or Klaus. We need to keep in mind that we can’t be certain that Klaus really is immortal. After everything I know, he came back from the dead at least once for certain, right? But we don't know the details of this power. Can't he be killed at all or are their limits? What I am trying to say is that we shouldn't risk putting him in harm's way."

"Okay, so we need to get him out first!" Diego quickly agreed.

"How would we do that?" Luther cut in with furrowed brows. Simon didn't doubt that Luther wanted Klaus safe just as much as Diego did but he had a weird way of showing it sometimes.

"We should lure Cha-Cha and Hazel out of that room but even then … They could still use Klaus as leverage against us." Simon then sighed. "They will know that we are here to fuck with them."

"I told you we should’ve kept his girlfriend!" Five hissed. "That way we would have a chance at least!" 

"What's their end goal?" Vanya suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?" Allison asked just as surprised about the question as the rest of them. 

"Well, until now, we haven't asked ourselves what they even want from Klaus and Nathan. What do they want?"

"I don't see how that's important" Five scoffed.

"But it is" Diego supported his sister. "She’s right. We didn't question it. Last time they wanted to find  _ you _ , Five. What do they want this time?"

"I can only assume that the Commission sent them to find out if I was planning something. Or they still try to get the apocalypse going."

"It could be a trap" Simon suggested quietly. "Kidnapping your brother to lure you out of your hiding place."

"But there was no ransom letter, no message - nothing  _ to  _ lure me out. Last time they asked Klaus for information about me. Maybe they are trying to do the same again. Maybe they want to find out what I’m planning. Maybe their goal is not to take me out - not yet. Just stop whatever it is the commission thinks I’m doing." 

"Let's hope you’re right. Otherwise, we might be surrounded by those masked killers already without knowing it." Luther’s face was grim as he said it.

Of course, Simon didn't know what masked killers they were talking about, but he felt unease sweep over him at the mention. He imagined a group of masked soldiers watching them from every corner, hidden in the shadows, ready to strike and shoot at them. He was used to dangerous situations but this still left him uneasy.

※※※※※※※

Klaus hung limply on his chair in the ropes that were holding him in place. Sitting here, not knowing if their plan had actually worked, was the worst torture. If their plan had failed, his siblings were still none the wiser about their whereabouts. He wasn’t exactly afraid of dying either - he just wanted the pain to stop - but how sure could he be that he really was immortal? What if little girl God had, at last, decided that she would want to keep him around?

For the first time in his life, Klaus actually wished that there would be ghosts here to help him get rid of Hazel and Cha-Cha. Of course, there were always a few ghosts lingering around those two, even now but he could hardly see or feel them. 

The few ghosts that were lingering were nothing but vague humanoid shapes. Still, maybe it would work. He could only hope that it would work. If he would be able to splice just enough of his remaining energy off to those fucking ghosts, maybe they could help at least. Of course, he could sit still and wait but with every second ticking by he would run the risk of Nathan returning to life and making this all so much worse for the both of them, right? He couldn't just sit by and wait to be saved by his siblings like some damsel in distress. 

Hazel and Cha-Cha just sat in the corner, ignoring him and Nathan altogether while they talked to each other in hushed voices. The frustration between them was only growing now as they couldn't get anything out of Klaus even after killing his twin.

Klaus didn't hold much of a grudge against Hazel - after all, he had not been the one beating the shit out of him the first go-around. Cha-Cha, on the other hand … Well, she deserved nothing less than death, as far as he was concerned. Hazel had at least tried to get away from the Commission and his work as an assassin. 

They didn't pay him any attention as he sat there next to his dead twin brother and so, Klaus could actually focus on the ghosts that were lingering in the corners. The more he focussed his attention on those shapes hovering about, the clearer they started to become - and the clearer they became, the closer they got as well; suddenly aware that Klaus could see and interact with them. He recognized a few of them from the motel on Calhoon and they recognized him as it seemed. 

Hazel and Cha-Cha still didn't pay him any mind as the ghosts crept closer towards him, completely oblivious to what was happening around them. They were horribly disfigured but they didn't scream at him, they didn't try to rip him to shreds. Their hatred was focussed on the two temporal assassins in the room. He was almost glad to see those faces again and this time, they were not talking and telling him their tragic backstories. As they leaned in, they were laser-focused on Klaus only, almost as if they could tell that he was weak and needed their help. He had helped them before, he would like to say at least, maybe they were here now to repay the favor. 

"Help me?" Klaus whispered barely audible so that neither Hazel nor Cha-Cha would be suspicious. The ghost of the poor Asian lady with the slit throat nodded quietly and that was all Klaus needed as confirmation before he put all his energy into this. Maybe his siblings would come to save him, sure, but until then, he couldn't just wait and hope for the best. What if they wouldn't come looking for him after all? He didn't even know if Hazel and Cha-Cha had sent his siblings a ransom letter or any other kind of message. What if his siblings thought that Nathan and he had just gone off on a bender? He could very well die in this room - permanently if God so chose. Whether or not he would come back from the dead seemed like the toss of a dice.

His hands started to glow blue and so did the ghosts around him. This, finally, got the attention of the two other living people inside the room. Cha-Cha immediately pulled out her gun and shot at one of the ghosts only to realize that her bullet passed right through them. Not for long, though. 

"What is that?" Cha-Cha screamed in terror.

"It's him!" Hazel then pointed at Klaus and Cha-Cha quickly aimed at Klaus instead. Before she could pull the trigger, however, the ghosts lunged forward. A blue cloud of the ghosts that those two assholes had killed and tortured over the cause of decades, all leaped at their opportunity to inflict damage. Klaus didn't know just how long he could hold them in this world and if it would be enough to kill the two assassins. Seconds in, he felt ready to pass out. He screwed his eyes shut, sweat dripping from his hair as he exhausted what little energy was still left in him, the only evidence that it was working were the screams of the two assassins and then, darkness.

A thick, gooey darkness that took him away from the murder basement and his dead twin, away from the assassins and the ghosts.

※※※※※※※

Simon had waited for the longest time to sneak into the room. He had waited for an opportunity when one of the two assassins would leave the room but that opportunity never seemed to come. Behind the door, it was completely silent now. After he had waited for fifteen minutes, he opened the door just a crack to peek inside, and what he saw almost knocked him off his feet. 

There was blood everywhere - covering the walls and the floors like spiderwebs. He saw the big guy he had been following on the ground, his partner, a woman, beside him, staring out of empty eyes. Her stomach and chest had been ripped open and the first thing Simon could think of was the facehugger from Alien. He was almost certain that he would see a Xenomorph creep around the abandoned factory any second now. The man, Hazel, on the other hand, he couldn't tell if he was dead or just unconscious. 

Then his eyes fell on the twins. Nathan was very clearly dead, like he had seen before. His head hung down limply and his chin almost touching his collar bone, a bullet wound in the center of his forehead and blood and brain splattered all over the wall behind him. He couldn't tell right away if Klaus was dead as well. He hung limply in his restraints. He quickly dropped his invisibility and shot into the room. Without wasting a second thought for anything else, Simon went straight to Klaus and pushed his fingers into his neck to search for his pulse. There was nothing for what felt like an eternity but then there it was, slow and hesitantly thumping against his fingers. 

"Oh, thank God!" Simon breathed out. 

Just like they had agreed on, Simon cut Klaus free and had to hold him up so that the young man would not fall off the chair. Until now, Simon had not really wasted a moment to fully take in how weird it was to see the twins together for the first time. Sure, he had seen the photo that Nathan had sent Kelly but seeing it, in reality, was something entirely different - especially under these circumstances. Only when he had put Klaus safely down on the ground did he start cutting Nathan free and handling him in the same way. He quickly took out his phone and dialed Diego after that.

"Why are you calling?" Diego hissed. "Stick to the damn plan!"

"They are dead! Hazel and Cha-cha!"

"What?"

"I don't know how or why but they are. I didn't see anyone else either but Klaus needs medical attention and quickly." 

Before he could even hang up the phone, Five had blinked into the room with a flash. The Boy paused in his movements for a second, taking in the room, no doubt. His gaze lingered on the two dead assassins for a second or two before he looked at Nathan being dead on the ground and then at Klaus. He took his brother’s hand and zapped out of the room just like that without even saying anything to him. 

Simon was left to deal with Nathan alone as it seemed. Well, there was not much to deal with at the moment, he assumed. Slowly, he walked over to the assassins to have a better look at them, just as he heard heavy footsteps approach. Diego. They were not heavy enough for Luther. Just a minute later, Diego kicked open the door and barged in, knives clutched in both hands, ready for the attack. 

"Oh shit, what the hell happened here?" Diego grunted and nudged Cha-Cha’s foot with his own after he stepped inside. Simon couldn't quite tell if the vigilante was phased in any way by all the blood and gore. "Who the hell did this? It looks like they have been ripped apart."

Ben was the next to arrive at the scene and paled visibly at the sight of the scene in front of him. "How the hell…" 

"They almost look like the Horror took them out" Diego muttered.

"Yeah … Yes, they do" Ben nodded before he glanced over at Nathan. "Okay … we have time to discuss this later … Let’s bring Nathan home first."

While the brothers talked, Simon noticed how the chest of the big guy was rising and falling. The movement was too small to really notice at first but as Simon crouched down next to him and felt for his pulse, he could feel it underneath his fingers. He wasn’t in as bad a shape as his partner either as it seemed. "Hey, this one is still alive!" He called out to the brothers but that only served to make Diego direct his fury at the man.

"Then we will change that!"

"No!" Ben argued back. "No, we should take him home."

"What?"

"He could be of help!" Ben sighed. "He could tell us why they are back to haunt FIve or whatever their fucking plan was! You can still kill him later, Diego." 

That, at last, seemed to suffice for Diego to focus on the situation at hand and not his thirst for revenge. He didn't know them well enough to understand what Diego’s problem was with the two assassins but it couldn't be as important as gathering information about them. 

"Okay, fine" Diego growled and walked over to Nathan. He picked him up as if he weighed nothing and flung him over his shoulder. "But Luther has to get this asshole out of here."

※※※※※※※

Klaus looked horrible. He sat at his brother’s bedside, his only solace in the rising and falling of Klaus’ chest. His nose was broken, his knee shattered into a million pieces, bruises, cuts, and abrasions littering every inch of his skin. He had suffered a severe head trauma - probably from being kicked in the head or beaten with a bat or a crowbar or whatever else those assholes had been using on Klaus.

His brother had been in the OR under the careful hands of Grace and Pogo for hours as they had fixed his knee, the inner bleeding, and his broken ribs as best as they could. Now he lay here, hooked up to an IV, and a machine that took over his breathing for now. He never wanted to see his brother looking like this, with a tube down his throat, and yet, here they were. The only thing he could do was sit beside Klaus and hold his hand until he would wake up. 

The other bed in the room was occupied by Nathan. He was still dead, lying perfectly still on the bed, looking almost asleep if it wouldn't be for the gaping hole in the back of his head or the entry wound on his forehead. A part of him wondered if he would come back from this one. Simon said, that they never knew how long it would take Nathan. Sometimes it were a few minutes, sometimes it took hours or even days. But what if he wouldn't come back from this one? How would he explain to Klaus that his twin brother, whom he just found, was really dead?

The others had taken care of Hazel. His injuries were bad, yes, but he would pull through. Luther had allowed Grace to make sure of that. At least Diego could rest assured that the man was in no condition to hurt any of his siblings even if he wanted to. 

His eyes darted over to Nathan again. He too looked a little worse for the wear. Grace had cleaned up the blood from his face but the bruises were still there. He had taken a good beating before Hazel and Cha-Cha had finally killed him. In a way it was good that he had not yet come back to life. If Hazel and Cha-Cha would have realized that Nathan was immortal, they might have done worse to him - or they would have done worse to Klaus. Seeing Nathan dead, even though he knew that he would come back from this, wasn’t easy, though. He hated seeing the Irish troublemaker like this. For some reason, he felt like he had failed him. After all, Nathan was his brother too, wasn't he? He was Klaus’ brother, so he was Diego’s brother as well. No matter how angry he had been at Nathan for the shit he had said to Klaus at the club. He didn't want to see him hurt or in pain - or dead.

"Diego" Vanya stood in the doorway smiling at him as he turned to look at his sister. He almost felt a bit flustered to be seen holding his brother’s hand and sitting at his sickbed. "You should eat something. You haven't eaten anything since they took the twins."

He hadn't slept either but he wouldn't tell her. "I’m good." He shrugged. He didn't feel hungry at all anyway, even though his sister was probably right and he should be eating something. 

"You’re not helping him when you are starving yourself, Diego. Klaus is fine now. He’s safe and Mom can take care of him."

"I’m not-" He stopped himself. "I’m good. It's all good." He didn't want him to wake up alone in here.

"You are aware that it's not your fault what happened, right?" Vanya sighed. "You couldn't have known that Hazel and Cha-Cha are back or that they would kidnap the twins. You need to stop beating yourself up for things that are outside of your control." 

He knew that she had a point but that didn't mean he could just go on with life as if nothing had happened. he still felt guilty even though he knew that there was no point in it. It didn't help Klaus that he felt this way and it didn't help Nathan either. "I know" Diego sighed finally and dragged a hand over his face. He was bone-achingly tired. "I just don't want him to wake up alone. Or Nathan. They went through so much … I want to be here."

Vanya looked like she wanted to argue with him but then she sighed and granted him a small smile. "Okay … I’m bringing you something to eat though, okay?"

"Fine…"

It took Vanya not more than ten minutes to return to him with a fluffernutter sandwich and leave him again. He took one bite off the sandwich and wanted to throw it right back up. He just couldn't eat right now, not when his little brother was lying here with a tube down his throat. 

"I’m sorry…" He muttered quietly and brushed curl out of Klaus’ forehead. "I should’ve come with you. I should’ve found you sooner." In the end, Klaus had needed to save himself as it seemed because they hadn't been able to do anything or find out anything. They were complete losers - not even able to find their kidnapped brothers. What kind of superheroes were they even?

"Fuck" A groan behind him made him jolt out of his thoughts. He turned his head just enough to look at the other bed where Nathan was just trying to get his bearings. Most of his injuries seemed healed as he slowly sat up on the bed but it was evident that Nathan’s body was prioritizing which injuries to heal and which not when it recovered from one more death. There was no evidence left on him that he had ever been shot in the head. It became clear to Diego pretty quickly, though, that Nathan was beyond confused as he woke up. "That's the worst fucking headache of my life. Never doing that again. Klaus? That was a bad idea, I don't even think that it worked! Klaus? You hear me? Your idea was shit!" 

He watched how Nathan’s mouth dropped open as the Irishman finally took in the scene around him. His eyes fell on Klaus’ still form on the bed and that's where they lingered, his mouth slightly agape and a joke dying on his lips. 

"Klaus?" He asked again before he looked at Diego. "What’s wrong with him?" 

He was sure that he had not seen Nathan so serious before. There was no twinkle in his eyes, no smirk tugging on his lips now. He was dead-serious as he stared at Diego and then back at his twin. Diego could almost see the cogs turning in his head, could almost tell what was going on inside that chaotic mind. Nathan might be very nonchalant and usually didn't give a fuck about his own death or bodily harm but if someone he liked got hurt, that was a whole different thing, apparently. Slowly, Nathan swung his legs over the edge of his bed but paused and pressed a hand to his head, probably dizzy after the sudden movement.

"Don't get up yet" Diego sighed. "You’re probably dizzy. Stay down, relax, everything is fine." Except that his little brother had a tube down his throat. 

"Doesn't look like everything is fine!" Nathan pointed at Klaus. "I didn't … I didn't realize that it was this bad. If I would have known … I wouldn't have left him alone…"

"It's not your fault." Diego sighed. "You guys did what you had to do. If you hadn't we wouldn't have found you."

"So did it work? You could hear me? I don't remember much."

"Well … We understood a little. In the end, Simon followed Hazel to the location." Nathan’s face dropped just a little in disappointment and Diego felt bad right away. Then again, it was true, whatever those two had done, it had been in vain. Klaus had exhausted himself for nothing. Even if he would lie about that to Nathan now, the other man would find out eventually. 

"So, it was all for nothing." Nathan sighed.

"You tried, at least." Diego shrugged. "It's better than not having tried anything, Nate. Don't beat yourself up just because it didn't work." 

Slowly, Nathan got up from his bed and staggered towards Klaus and Diego. He stopped at the side of his twin’s bed and pushed a hand through Klaus’ curls. Diego was almost a bit surprised how gentle the gesture seemed, how loving and concerned. 

"He will be okay, right?"

"Sure, lil’ bro" Diego muttered and nudged his side before he took the plate with his sandwich from Klaus’ nightstand and handed it to Nathan. "Eat. You need it." 

**-End of Chapter 13-**


	14. Chapter 14

"I can't believe that you’re really here, Mate!" Nathan sighed as he fell into the sofa cushions beside his friend. He had taken the longest hot shower in human history after he had left the infirmary at last. A part of him hadn't wanted to leave the infirmary and thus his brother behind but he knew that Klaus was in good and capable and overly-worried hands with Diego so he thought that he could risk it. It was hard for him to look at his injured brother anyway and to know that all of this had been his fault. He felt like a complete and total failure. He felt like he had let down Klaus. Well, big surprise.

"How do you always know when to show up?" He added with a chuckle. 

Seeing Simon again after so long a time felt comforting to him. It was easy to forget how much he missed his favorite melonfucker in the whole wide world when he was busy and distracted himself with other random shit. Only when he would meet back up with him, Nathan realized how much he had truly missed his friend and how much he missed Kelly - even Curtis and Alisha. He missed their old group, missed their glory days as the ASBO five. He missed the dirty community center, the mattress on the mezzanine, the food from the vending machine he had refused to put money into.

"It's a talent" Simon huffed.

"Ah, the famed Nathan-senses." Nathan grinned. "You got a tingle in your nether regions when I’m in trouble, right?"

"Sure" They shared a chuckle. 

"Hey … remember how you said that those months in community service was the best time of your life?"

"You’ll never let me live that down, huh?"

"Firstly: No. Secondly: I think that I get what you meant back then." He didn't look at Simon even though he knew that Simon was staring at him with large eyes. "Don't look at me like that … I know, you guys always said that I would never grow up and shit right?  _ Look at Nathan, he’ll never be a proper adult, he’ll just get older and hairier!  _ But I think … those past couple of days made me wise, Man." 

Simon Bellamy was a good friend because he refrained from breaking out in fits of laughter at this comment. Simon Bellamy was a good friend because he looked at him all studious and serious, with his bottom lip between his teeth as he gave Nathan’s words some consideration before he opened his mouth and said:

"No, I think you really just got hairier." 

Nathan barked out a laugh just as Vanya walked into the room with a tray in her delicate hands. He noticed three mugs on top of the tray and a plate with cookies. It smelled heavenly of chocolate and fresh tea. She smiled at him as he looked at her and sat down beside Nathan on the sofa, sandwiching him in effect between herself and Simon, before putting down the tray on the coffee table in front of them.

"How are you doing?" She asked with that calm, steady voice of hers. After everything he knew about Vanya and her, frankly, disastrous powers, it was hard to link that timid young woman to that dangerous goddess that could bring about the apocalypse. In short, Nathan liked her a lot. She could destroy the whole world and put even Luther in his place but she was too nice to do so. On the same token, however, he wouldn't put it past her that she would smack him across the face if he would do anything to properly annoy her.

"Oh, peachy" Nathan smirked. "A hot shower works wonders on a young man. And your mum too, of course. She patched me up." 

"I’m glad to hear that."

"Awwww" Nathan cooed and nudged her shoulder. "You were worried about me!"

"Of course, I was" Vanya Hargreeves was a good friend as well. She was honest and serious - and Nathan didn't quite know how to cope with the knowledge that even the family of his twin brother was actually worried about him, that they were caring about him - more than his own mother even. 

He was startled into a state of awkward insecurity by this realization. He didn't know how to behave around people like that. He was used to jokes and quips and to people not taking him seriously. He started to get flustered when people would approach him with care and compassion and when he would get flustered he sometimes turned to cruelty, would start mocking the other person until they regretted their worry and care for him and would distance themselves from him. He remembered acting like this around Kelly and later Simon too. 

He didn't want to act like this around Vanya, though. She was Klaus’ sister and he didn't want to ruin his relationship with Klaus or any of his siblings. Family had never been all that important to him, not after how his mother had treated him, not after how his father had abandoned him. When he had met Jamie, he had seen it as a second chance at having an actual family only to have it being ripped away from him again. Now there was Klaus and his family. Klaus, who almost died because of Nathan’s stupid actions. Klaus, who was lying in the infirmary with a tube down his throat because he couldn't breathe on his own.

A little while ago, he would have been terribly afraid of the concept of being part of a family again but right now … He wanted it. He really did. 

"So" He turned to Vanya again and cleared his throat, adamant now to change the topic and play down his own awkwardness. "Where’s the big dude? Diego said you guys took him here? Let me tell you, I’m glad that bitch is dead, right? But I would really like to punch that huge guy in the face at least once, yeah? He broke my nose, after all."

"Luther has him locked up in the basement. He’s not woken up yet but Luther is watching him like a hawk. He’ll tell us as soon as he wakes and then Five and he are going to question him about the purpose of his and Cha-Cha’s latest visit."

Simon had given him a quick rundown of what they had found in that serial-killer basement when they had finally found him and Klaus. Cha-Cha had been dead and Hazel injured. None of them knew what had happened in that room and the only two people who might be able to tell them were still unconscious. 

Not too long after Vanya had brought Simon and him tea and cookies, Nathan walked back upstairs to have a look at his twin. Diego had fallen asleep in his chair beside Klaus’ sickbed and was drooling on his shoulder. The Mexican looked completely and utterly exhausted and Nathan bet that he hadn't slept at all since Nathan and Klaus had gone missing. In a way, Nathan was envious of Klaus. Sure, by now he understood it a little better that Klaus’ childhood had been a nightmare just like Nathan’s but growing up with a brother like Diego … Yes, he was jealous. Despite the crap Klaus had done in the past decade or so, despite how awful he had treated his own siblings, Diego was still here at Klaus’ side worried sick for his brother and willing to do anything to help Klaus. It must've been great to have someone who always had your back when growing up. If he had grown up with Jamie, maybe he could've been that for Jamie - or the other way around. 

"Careful" A voice behind him murmured and almost made him jump at the ceiling. "don't wake up Diego." Ben. That fucking little creep was still creeping around like Casper now that he had a body. "He’s an angry sleeper, like a bear."

"We should glue his hand to his face" Nathan considered. "Or we could put his hand in warm water until he pisses himself." 

"Sounds like a good idea" Ben humored him. "I still have to get back at him for putting a red sock in my white laundry when we were twelve. I had to run around in pink clothes for at least a month. I never retaliated."

"Now is your chance, Cthulhu." 

"Maybe another time."

"You’re a coward, Benedict." Nathan shook his head but his eyes landed on his twin brother still resting silently and still on the bed. He showed no signs of waking up and a part of him was absolutely terrified that he might never wake up. His injuries were severe. He had had time to read the complete list of injuries that Grace had put at the end of Klaus’ bed. What if he would never wake up? Ben seemed to be reading his mind because he put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. Klaus is tough as nails" He sighed.

"He doesn't look like it."

"No" He chuckled. "But he is. You should've seen him out there on the streets."

"Was it bad?"

"It was a nightmare" Ben sighed but his eyes remained fond as he kept them trained on Klaus. "He was hooking up with strangers for alcohol, drugs, money, or just a place to sleep. More often than not he poked a hornets' nest with his behavior. He constantly got himself in trouble. I can't count how many times I was afraid for his life when he was lying in some alley between dumpsters because he overdosed or because he was beaten to an inch of his life. He always recovered, though."

"You had to stomach a lot, huh?"

"Yeah" Ben shrugged. "Diego too. He was his emergency contact. He still is, I guess. Diego always came when the hospital called yet again. He never wasted a second thought. I don't even know anymore how often he put Klaus into rehab. He spent all his money on Klaus and his rehabilitation at times even though he was barely scraping by himself." 

"No wonder they are so close then." There it was again, the envy. 

Ben hummed in response. "So … don't worry. He came back from worse." He knew that Ben was lying to him and Ben probably knew that he knew and yet the ex-ghost had not enough decency to look ashamed in the slightest. Nathan decided to indulge him. 

"It wasn't your fault" Ben then sighed. "I mean, yes if you wouldn't have run off, Klaus wouldn't have gone after you but it's not your fault. Nobody could know that Cha-Cha and Hazel were out there. At least this time our siblings recognized that he was missing and in danger."

※※※※※※※

Three days. It had been three days and Klaus had yet to stir or give any sign of life in addition to the beating of his heart on the heart monitor. He was growing a little tired of his siblings telling him to sleep or eat or take a break or at least take a shower. He knew that he needed to take a shower or that he needed to eat or sleep. That didn't change anything, though. He needed to be at Klaus’ side. He had failed him before, last time Klaus had been taken by Hazel and Cha-Cha. Sure, he and Eudora had found him back then but it had taken him too long to notice that his brother had been missing in the first place. 

He felt guilty now too. If it hadn't been for Simon following Hazel, they might still not have found Klaus or Nathan. If Simon had not shown up to their house out of the blue … And now his brother was lying there and wouldn't wake up. What if he would never wake up?

"Diego" Luther’s voice called from the open door of the infirmary. 

"No, I’m not hungry" He muttered without even turning his head to look at his giant of a brother.

"We want to start questioning Hazel."

"He woke up?" This time Diego did turn his head to look at Luther. Number One looked tired and exhausted. He had not shaved in a while and was still wearing the same clothes he had worn three days ago. 

"A few hours ago" As he looked at his brother, Luther seemed a little hesitant. "Are you coming?"

"No, I’m rather staying here."

"Diego-"

"No, I mean, I think you guys can handle it just fine." Diego brushed Luther off because he knew what his brother wanted to say. It was the same their other siblings had been saying for days now. "Besides, I might start beating the crap out of this asshole if I see him again." 

"I really want you to come. You are my second in command, I  _ need  _ you for this, Brother. Let Nathan stay with Klaus." He wanted to protest and stay here in this chair but he knew that Luther wouldn't give up. He could tell from the way he was standing there in the doorway staring at him. This was his ‘I am Number One and you have to listen to me’ stance. It was the stance that reminded him of their childhood as superheroes and how he had been forced to listen to Luther and his orders. Things were different now but they were a team again and there needed to be a hierarchy of power in a team like theirs. They had sworn to make it work this time, to be better this time around. 

"I won’t stay for long though" Diego then sighed before he slowly rose from his seat. His entire body groaned under the strain he put onto it with just getting up from the seat. "I wanna be here when he wakes up"

Luther grunted and gave him just a little nod. He was not naive. He knew that his siblings were talking in hushed voices behind his back - wondering if Klaus would wake up at all. He knew that Five had said that Klaus probably would never wake up again and that they needed to get this into Diego’s skull at one point or another. He had wanted to jump out and beat the shit out of Five for this statement but, in the end, he had refrained from it. Five was just as scared as he was. He knew that. Behind his crude comments and his arrogant facade, Five loved his family more than anything - otherwise, he wouldn't have risked everything only to return to them. In a way, Five surely blamed himself for the state Klaus was in right now too. After all,  _ his  _ old boss had sent Hazel and Cha-Cha here, right? They were  _ his  _ former colleagues. And all of that had happened only because  _ Five  _ had broken his contract. 

As he walked out of the room, he found Nathan standing beside the door in the hallway already. He smiled a little awkwardly at Diego before he slipped into the room like water just as Diego exited it. For a moment, Diego watched how Nathan was taking over his seat and sat down beside his twin. Deep down, he wanted to blame Nathan for everything but even he knew that it would be unfair to do so. Nathan had had every right to be upset at the club and he had had every right to walk away from the situation and his own brother to cool down. How could he have known that something like this could even be a possibility? 

"Diego" Luther addressed him and pulled him out of his trance. "Come on"

He started following his brother down the hallway. He hated leaving Klaus behind like this, not knowing if he might wake up while Diego wasn't there. Well, at least he would have Nathan there with him - but that was not the same thing now, was it?

"I know what you guys are thinking" Diego muttered as they were heading down into the basement over a set of staircases that were neatly tucked away into a corner of the house no one would suspect them to be at. They could’ve taken the elevator too but Diego needed the exercise, he needed to move. "About Klaus." Luther shot him a confused look as they were walking down the stairs. "About him not waking up. I heard you. He  _ will  _ wake up."

"Diego, we just-"

"No, I know." He cut his brother off. "But he will wake up." 

"What if he doesn't?" Luther replied carefully. He was probably afraid that Diego would kick him down the stairs. "Diego … what if he doesn't? Are you gonna spend the rest of your life sitting in that chair then? Klaus wouldn't want you to wither away like this, watching over him, forgetting to eat and drink and sleep and shower." 

"There is no  _ what if _ ." 

"I know you blame yourself-"

"I’m not."

"Yes, you do. Because you always do." Luther sighed. "Even as kids. You blame yourself for everything. Remember how Klaus fell down the stairs in Mom’s heels and broke his jaw? You blamed yourself because you teased him before and challenged him to do it. You said to him  _ ‘I bet you can't walk in mom’s shoes’ _ . Remember how Klaus got his arm broken during a mission? You blamed yourself for that one too even though you were at the other end of the building when it happened."

"Yeah" Diego nodded. "I shouldn't have challenged and teased him. I should have been closer and make sure he doesn't get hurt."

"You are not his bodyguard." Luther sighed with exasperation clearly written all over his face. "Klaus is a big boy. He can take care of himself, he did so for the last thirteen years" The glare Diego shot Luther made his brother huff in response. "I know, not the best example. Still, he can take care of himself. He doesn't need you to fret and worry and mother him all the time."

"I’m not  _ mothering  _ him."

"Yeah, you do" Luther sighed. "Ever since we all got back together as a team, ever since you and your friend found him at that motel."

"I should've noticed sooner that he was missing. When Hazel and Cha-Cha were shooting up the place, I should've checked on him. He could have been killed in our own house and we wouldn't have noticed."

"You are the most stubborn bastard I have ever met" Luther sighed at last as they reached the basement. "You can't spend your entire life trying to protect Klaus from everything, Diego. And if you’ll try to, you’ll only drive him away at one point." 

With that, Luther finally opened the door to the room they were holding Hazel in. The giant was tied to a chair. Mom had patched him up roughly just so that he wouldn't die on them before he would have been able to answer their questions. Everyone else was already waiting for them. Hazel’s eyes were open, meeting Diego’s as he walked in before the giant gave an undignified grunt. 

"Please no biting this time, okay?" Hazel sighed. Last time they had met, Hazel had planned to walk away from the Commission and came by to help prevent the apocalypse. Diego had attacked him the moment he had caught sight of him as retaliation for what that asshole did to Klaus and that he came here in the first place to endanger his entire family. 

"Don't worry" Five said. "He won't bite you as long as you tell us what we want to hear." 

"No, I might still bite him."

"He’s a biter" Ben confirmed, leaning at the wall with crossed arms. "He bit my arm when we were three because I took his favorite toy." 

"He bit me just the other day because I took the last cookie." Luther huffed.

"Okay" Hazel replied calmly. "I really don't want to be bitten again. So, how do we help each other here?" 

"It's easy" Diego shot back. "We want to know what you are doing here  _ again _ . We want to know why you took our brothers and tortured them." 

"Yes, I think that’s reasonable questions to ask." Hazel replied. "The Handler sent Cha-Cha and me back to find out what Five is planning." Diego couldn't deny that he was a bit surprised to hear that Hazel was actually going to answer his question instead of trying to be funny in any way. 

"What do you mean? I’m not planning  _ anything! _ "

"You’re not?" Luther asked. "I thought you wanted to take down the Commission!"

"Yes,  _ now _ ! But only because they took Klaus again!" 

"Oh," Hazel chuckled. "Well, it seems the Handler shot herself in the foot then."

"I thought you left the Commission," Diego grumbled. "You wanted to ride into the sunset with that donut lady." 

"Yes, I did - I wanted to-"

"Agnes" Simon, of all people, concluded. Sometimes it was really easy to forget that Simon even existed. He would stand still and be quiet for so long that he almost blended in the background. It was always a little startling when he would then speak up unannounced. 

"Who is this guy?" Hazel nodded in Simon’s general direction. In all honesty, the assassin didn't seem that bothered that his partner was dead and that he was their captive now. 

"They used Agnes against you?" Five said to get Hazel back on track. 

"They found us. I’ve managed to dodge Cha-Cha, take our suitcase, and leave with Agnes to the sixties." Diego scoffed quietly. The sixties. What a time to be alive. Must be nice to be able to fuck off into a whole other time period. "After a while, the Handler found us and took us. She made it quite clear to me that Agnes would get terminated if I would not fulfill this last contract for her. I had to get back together with Cha-Cha and we got the order to return here and find out about Five’s plans because the Handler was certain that Five was planning to go against her and the Commission. At least she allowed Agnes to return to the city as well for the time being. I thought the Handler was getting sloppy but then I understood that it was her way of showing me that she wasn’t concerned that I would break my contract again - because she could easily take Agnes out if I tried."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Luther asked the man. "Who attacked you?"

"Well, fuck" Hazel sighed. "It probably sounds crazy..."

"Try us." Allison chimed up. "We know a thing or two about crazy."

"It happened suddenly" Hazel continued. "We were waiting for nightfall to dump that other guy’s body at your doorstep with a message for Five. Sorry for killing him, by the way. He provoked Cha-Cha and she lost her temper. She said it wouldn't matter because he wasn’t even a real Hargreeves and that it would be more important to keep your actual brother alive. Anyway, suddenly the entire room was filled with … ghosts? I don't know for sure. But they looked like the people we killed in the past and before we knew it, all hell broke loose." 

"This doesn't make any sense" Five replied with frustration written clearly on his face.

"Yes, it does" Ben replied. "Klaus. It was Klaus. He used his powers." 

"Why did you take Klaus again?" Allison hissed. 

"Oh … That was kinda a coincidence." Hazel scoffed. "I mean that other guy, Nathan, walked right in on me and Cha-Cha saw Klaus walking down the street in the middle of the night. We didn't even know that the other one had presumably caught ‘the junkie’." 

"So what now? Do we kill him?" Diego asked his siblings.

"The Handler would just send someone else after us" Five sighed. "No, we should all go in and finish this shit."

"We do what now?"

"We take Hazel’s suitcase and all go to the headquarter"

"And then what?" Allison huffed. At least he was not alone in the thought that Five’s plan sounded completely unhinged. 

"We blow this shit up."

**-End of Chapter 14-**


	15. Chapter 15

"I’m staying here."

"Diego, we talked about this" Luther groaned, clearly fed up with Diego’s constant defiance on the matter - Not that Diego cared much about Luther’s annoyance. "We  _ need  _ you there."

"You have Vanya!" Diego clapped back and pointed at his sister who was standing to the side, looking as inconspicuous as always. "You really don't need a guy who throws well when you have someone who could destroy the moon!" Vanya actually smiled at that. She was still not used to being part of the team, nor was she used to her siblings praising her abilities. "I can't just go with you."

"Nathan is here. He will stay with Klaus." Luther sighed.

"What if the Commission sends someone when we are gone and attacks the house, though?"

"I doubt it" Five cut in with a shake of his head and an annoyed sigh. "And now untie your panties, Diego. We need every last one of us. We could even make use of Klaus and Nathan, in all honesty."

"I can stay behind if that helps" Simon offered.

"Someone who can turn invisible?" Five chimed in. He sounded almost scandalized by the offer. " _ No!  _ We can make good use of you!" 

"Should we really take Hazel though?" Ben shrugged and pointed at the man in the center of the room, who was still tied to the chair and watching the scene as if he was watching a football game. "What if this is all part of the plan and he fucks us over when we are there?"

"What?" Hazel finally exclaimed. "Are you crazy? I already tried leaving the Commission before and now they are threatening my girlfriend  _ again!  _ I can't wait to be done with this job and the Handler. I just want a fresh start somewhere with Agnes and live a happy life! I deserve my retirement!"

"We can still kill him when we are there and he tries anything funny." Five huffed.

"That's a bad fucking plan!" Diego hissed. "Why do we need him over there?"

"Do you rather want him to stay here? In the house? With Klaus and Nathan and the chance that he might free himself from his binds?" 

Of course, that was not an option either in Diego’s mind. The chances that Hazel would free himself and attack Klaus and Nathan were too big. "Fine then!" He groaned. "Fine! I’m gonna tell Nathan so that he’s not confused later when he can’t find us." 

He wanted to buy himself more time even though he knew that it was getting a little ridiculous now. He knew that Five was right in his assessment because Five was usually right in his assessments. If Five said that they would need all of them to make this work, that was the truth. Five had no reason to lie just so that Diego Hargreeves would not spend his time fretting over Klaus like a worried mother hen. And, after all, Five should know. He had been there before and seen the headquarters of the Commission. Five usually was not one to ask for help or backup, so if he did now, it really had to mean something.

"Don't dilly-dally" Five called after him as Diego was already leaving the room and jogging down the hallway. This time around he would use the elevator. It gave him a bit of time to actually think about what he was going to say or do. However, even as he reached the infirmary, he still didn't know what he wanted to say. He paused near the door as he heard Nathan’s voice. First, he was certain that Klaus had woken up and that Nathan was talking to his brother but then he realized that Nathan was just talking to fill the silence. Just talking.

"And then this guy actually shot this new ASBO kid, right? I don't even know … I think his name was … probably Harry. Yeah, let's go with Harry. Or was it Bill? Who cares? Anyway, that guy died and we were all screaming bloody murder like  _ ‘AAAAAAH! JESUS CHRIST!’  _ and Kelly was like  _ ‘Oh my God, he’s gunna fockin’ kill us all!’ _ . So, we ran and tried to hide! Well, turns out he was actually looking for Barry. Or … was he? I can't remember. Anyway. In the end, we were all dangling from flesh hooks in some serial killer warehouse and Kelly was wearing this ridiculous wedding dress. Let me tell you, I was looking much better in it than she did when I later tried it on."

"Nathan" He interrupted Nathan’s absurd little story as he finally walked through the door. Klaus still looked exactly like he did when Diego had been forced to leave him alone two hours ago. Nathan looked at him with an anxious face, obviously ready to get up from the chair to change places with Diego again. To Diego, it was obvious that Nathan was still blaming himself for all this mess.

"Hey, Man! So, what did the big guy say? Did he apologize for breaking my nose?"

"We need to leave" Diego cut straight to it. "We will all go - Simon too. We have to take down the Commission so they won’t come after us again."

"O-Okay? Do you want me to come too, or?"

"No."

"Yeah … I mean … I’m not very useful, I guess." He had the same expression on his face that Klaus always had when he was told to be the lookout. It was, without a doubt, disappointment clearly written all over his face right now.

"That's not it. We need someone to watch Klaus while we’re gone."

"Oh"

"I need you to promise me to keep a good look on him, okay?" Nathan’s eyes grew a little bigger at that. "You will be the only other person in this house to defend him if anything happens. I need you to be his big brother while I’m away, right? Klaus really needs someone like that. Especially, if he wakes up while I’m gone."

He almost regretted his decision to tell Nathan these things, to have asked this favor of the Irishman. Nathan stared at him as if he had grown a second head before he suddenly got up from his chair and walked towards him. Diego didn't expect the hug that he received and although he was usually not a very huggy-person, he reciprocated before patting Nathan a little awkwardly on the back.

"Okay then" He muttered quietly. "I have to get going now."

※※※※※※※

Being asked by Diego to look after Klaus was like being knighted by her majesty Queen Lizzy herself. He was still a little shell-shocked as he watched Diego’s retreating form. Soon after, he was completely alone with his brother who was lying still and silent on the bed. It wasn't fair that Klaus was the one lying in this bed like this. He wanted to call Kelly because she would probably agree with him and tell him that he had fucked up. His phone was gone, though. It was probably still in the murder dungeon. 

The sound of high heels clicking on the hardwood floor outside made him look up again. Not a minute later, Grace appeared in the doorway. "Sweetheart" She greeted him gently. "You look tired. I’m making you something to eat." 

He had come to learn that he shouldn't be surprised about the way Grace treated him as if he was her own child and yet, it sometimes still struck him to the core; her kindness, her sweetness, the gentleness she looked at him with. She was the perfect image of what a mother should be like, the kind of mother he would have wanted to have. Now it was almost a little overwhelming for Nathan to be so close to this ideal motherly figure.

"I’m not very hungry" He replied. "I’m used to eating very little, it's how I kept my gorgeous body like this!" 

She looked at him a little puzzled at that before the corners of her mouth twitched upwards again and she cocked her head to the side. "No child will go hungry under my watch, Darling." She smiled. "I’m gonna make you waffles, Honey. I call you when they are ready, huh?"

"I can't leave Klaus alone, though."

Again, she hesitated before she walked closer. She walked up to the bed and dragged her right thumb gently down Klaus’ cheek. She was a robot. He had to actually keep reminding himself of that. She was not a real person. Yet, the way she touched Klaus and looked at him with such love and affection, made it almost impossible to understand that.

"I’ll bring you the waffles then" She smiled. "We can have a picnic up here. Klaus loves waffles too. When he was little he kept begging and begging every weekend. Sir Reginald wouldn't have any of that, though, of course."

"What was he like?" He asked Grace openly now. "Klaus. As a child, I mean." 

"Oh," She chuckled. "He was a hand full! He was rowdy when he was by himself and chaotic when he was with Diego. He was a bad influence on Ben too." She then laughed. "Somehow Ben always got tangled up in Klaus and Diego’s mischief - and Klaus always started it." 

"Sounds like they had a good time."

"Yes" Her smile froze for a moment. "However … Those shenanigans mostly happened when Sir Reginald wasn't home. He didn't appreciate such behavior. Sometimes I wished that he would have allowed those children more freedom. It would have been good for them. Especially Klaus." 

"I don't know about that" Nathan shrugged. "I had more freedom than I could ever want in life … I didn't turn out too well."

"Oh," She smiled again and reached over to him to brush her fingers across his cheek. "I think you are a little too hard on yourself. We all make mistakes. We all do things that are not right sometimes. We all speak without thinking, we all say things that hurt others, we all do things we regret. It's normal, Nathan. It's part of growing up, it's part of becoming an adult."

"My mum didn't think so" He chuckled. "When I was sentenced to community service she kicked me out on my first day at the community center and I had nowhere else to go so I stayed at the center for months, ate what I could get out of the vending machine without money and survived off of the kindness of my friends." What a wild time that had been. Back then, it hadn't truly hit him as it hit him now that he was ten years older. Yeah, being homeless sucked back then, of course, but it hadn't quite hit him how far he had fallen. "Even after I more or less patched things up with her … I wouldn't go back to her. We were never … close. She chose her boyfriends over me and … she wasn’t a good mum - and I wasn’t always a good son. But when I was thrown in prison in Las Vegas, she outright cut me out of her life. I didn't expect that."

With a soft sigh, Grace sat down carefully on the edge of Klaus’ bed. "Klaus got in a lot of trouble growing up." She then began. "I was worried for my little boy. He was always a bit sickly, growing up, never as strong and resilient as his brothers. But when he grew into a teenager and started sneaking out in the middle of the night, I got worried sick for him. I stayed up all night and waited for his return. When he was fifteen, he overdosed in his bedroom and … it was almost too late when I found him. I’m worried about all my children when they go out there into the world but Klaus always kept me on my toes. I can admit it now: I was angry and devastated when Sir Reginald kicked him out of the house at age nineteen, and even more so when he wouldn't allow him to return a year later. In secret, I waited for the news of his death every day. If it would have been in my power, I would have gone out there and dragged him back home by his ears." She laughed again. 

"Is he going to make it?"

"I’m sure he will" Her smile never seemed to waver. "He was a sickly child, yes, but he survived for years out there in the streets. He has learned how to adapt - and he is stubborn. He’ll make it." 

A little while later, Nathan decided to look after the two bunnies he made for Klaus and quickly decided that he would bring their cage into the infirmary. He didn't know why he wanted to bring the bunnies over, it just felt like the right thing to do. They were probably stressed out too after everything that happened.

"So, which one are you? Charlie or Stuart?" He asked the bunny he held in his hands but the bunny just stared at him and twitched his little nose. "Yeah, not very forthcoming there, brother. I just say you’re Stuart. It's not like anyone would be able to tell the difference anyway right? Well, Diego probably can because he is a psycho." 

"Master Diego has a big heart" The stern voice of Pogo suddenly chimed up from the doorway and almost made Nathan jump in his seat. He looked at the chimp with a smirk. "Master Diego was always very attentive to the little things." 

"Still, he didn't notice the difference when Klaus and I swapped clothes." 

Pogo chuckled at that. "Maybe it's easier for him to tell two identical rabbits apart then." 

"Maybe" Nathan huffed. "I sure can’t tell them apart."

"Well, I am 60% certain that you are holding Charlie."

"How?"

"Because Master Klaus and Master Ben overfed Stuart and he put on a little weight."

"Oh," Nathan huffed. "Yeah, that sounds like Klaus. So, did you come to check on him? He’s being kinda rude to me, you know? He doesn't even pretend to like my jokes." 

"I will have a stern talk with him about that when he wakes up" Pogo assured him as he walked closer to the bed and checked on Klaus’ vitals. 

"Any changes?"

"I’m afraid not." Pogo replied calmly. "But he will improve and soon he will wake up." 

"Yeah, Grace said that too but I start smelling bullshit" 

"Language, Master Nathan." The chimp quickly reprimanded. "Would you like to have a look at some of the tapes Sir Reginald filmed during the childhood of your brother while you wait?" 

"Klaus told me about that but to actually have it confirmed that this old creep filmed his kids really is something else" He huffed. "But yes, I would like to see those tapes. I might be able to use them as blackmail material." 

"Good. I will bring you the TV. I take it that you don't want to leave your brother’s side, right?" 

He didn't answer, just gave the chimp a small grin in response before he left Nathan and Klaus alone with the rabbits. Nathan couldn't remember ever feeling like this before for another person. He felt protective over Klaus but not in the same way he had felt protective over Jamie back in the day. It was different, somehow - in a way that he couldn't even try to describe. Maybe it was just because Klaus was his twin and injured. Perhaps this inexplicable bond between twins was a real thing after all.

Not long after that, Pogo and Grace came and rolled an old rabbit-ear TV into the infirmary. Nathan would have laughed about the absurd amount of outdated technology that was ever-present at this place and gave it a timeless quality but right now he actually found it kinda charming just like the stack of old VHS tapes that were lying on the little cart the TV was propped up on. 

"Oh, golly! Now I just need popcorn!" Nathan laughed and Grace - Mom - smiled at him.

"I can make you some, Darling."

"Would you?" Maybe it was a little mean to use her in such a way but since she had offered he couldn't possibly disappoint her, right? Ten minutes later, he sat beside his brother in his chair, a blanket in his lap, a bowl of popcorn, the bunnies in their cage, and the first tape playing. 

He watched mesmerized how Klaus was sitting upright in his toddler bed at age three, a plush sheep by his side, his trusty companion. He too had had a plush sheep at that age. In fact, his plush sheep was still sitting in his room at home in England - that was, of course, if his mum hadn’t thrown all his stuff away. The clock in the corner of the screen told him that it was one AM as his twin brother was sitting in his crib with a frown on his face and a very much wobbly bottom lip. He seemed upset as he grabbed his plush sheep. Suddenly, the clips that held one side of the cot up to prevent baby escapes snapped back and the side of the bed rolled down. 

"What?" Nathan gasped. "Ghosts, maybe. These damned Caspers." Perhaps that was why Klaus was looking upset as well. He was probably already seeing those assholes but couldn't really articulate that at age three. He expected his twin to just climb out of the bed then. Instead, Klaus grabbed his sheep tighter and suddenly he was floating a few inches above his crib and then landed safely, albeit a little wobbly, on his tiny feet outside his prison like a proper Magneto.

He stared in disbelief at the screen and then at his brother who was still motionless on the bed. "Mate! What the hell!" He almost expected an answer but Klaus rudely refused to give him one, so Nathan’s attention was drawn back to the screen where toddler Klaus was slowly making his way out of his room with the door helpfully left ajar by some nanny. 

The footage cut to another camera, showing Klaus walk out into the hallway and down to the next open door. Nathan recognized it as Diego’s room. It helped that there was a giant “2” in red attached to the door. Little Klaus made his way into his brother’s room and the footage cut again. Inside Diego’s room, Number Two was sleeping peacefully sprawled out in his own baby prison with a plush giraffe in his arms. Once again, Nathan could only watch how the side of yet another toddler bed mysteriously rolled down and how Klaus just floated up the couple of inches that he could have very well climbed up into his brother’s bed.

"You were a fucking menace to society!" Nathan guffawed. "I didn't know you could do this shit!" It would have been very helpful if Klaus would have used those powers on Hazel and Cha-Cha! He kept watching the tapes and the childhood shenanigans Klaus had been up to. He was amazed by how similar Klaus was to him, amazed by how much they had done in much the same way. The way Klaus asked Grace - Mom - to cut off the crust of his sandwiches, the particular way he would eat dinner - first the meat and then the vegetables. He watched him play with Diego and Ben, running around the house like a little maniac.

Suddenly, the heart-monitor started going off, startling Nathan out of the tranquility of the situation. His head whipped around and he saw how the lines were suddenly darting all over the place. His brother started convulsing on the bed. As Nathan jumped off, he almost spilled popcorn everywhere.

"Grace!" He started yelling. "Pogo!" 

※※※※※※※

"Let's never do that again, okay?" Allison groaned as they finally returned to the living room of the mansion. They were all equally covered in dust, dirt, and blood and in dire need of a proper bath and a nap. Diego knew that they had been gone for just a few hours now but it felt like days. Maybe for them, it had been days. He would probably never fully understand this time-travel bullshit. There was still blood dripping from his right hand as he slowly moved away from the briefcase. It seemed a miracle that they had all made it back from the hellish trip they had taken into the ‘50s.

"You need patching up" Allison muttered as she looked at the gash in his arm. It was quite deep and had Vanya not pushed him out of the way with her powers, he would probably be dead right now. They all looked a little worse for the wear, littered in bruises and scratches and cuts but at least they had been successful - at least they were all still alive.

"No shit, Sherlock" He huffed and Allison punched his left shoulder in retaliation. 

"I can't believe we did it" Hazel chuckled and fell down on the sofa as if he owned the place. Right now, no one really cared. 

"I’d say that calls for a drink" Five muttered and already zapped behind the bar, ignoring the deep gash on his own forehead as he did, and poured himself and Hazel two glasses of the good whiskey. Diego slowly staggered over to the bar and grabbed himself two beers. He opened both with his teeth and handed the second bottle to Vanya with a wink. She blushed at the gesture before returning his grin. She had a deep cut on her right cheek where she had been grazed by a bullet. As Diego went to examine it, she didn't even flinch away from his touch. 

"Well, that’s gonna leave a scar, Sis."

"So, does that mean I am now truly a member of the Umbrella Academy?" She replied with a huff.

"I guess so" Diego nodded. "Mom needs to make you a mask now." 

He didn't quite expect the hug but he wouldn't bemoan it either as he patted her back a little awkwardly. He had to bend down far too much to reciprocate the hug but did it anyway even though every single bone in his body seemed unhappy about it. As she let go of him, he noticed how she tried to discreetly wipe her face and so he flipped her ear before clinking their bottles together.

"I’m gonna go get patched up now" He left the living room with his beer and the good feeling of a threat taken care of. They had successfully destroyed the Commission, their weapons, and, most importantly, their stupid briefcases. Five was probably a little more pessimistic about the whole thing and Diego was certain that there would be a new threat in due time but as for now, they were safe, they could take a deep breath.

Slowly, he made his way up the stairs and towards the infirmary. He was actually a bit surprised that neither Pogo nor Grace had yet shown their faces. As he was only a few steps away from the door of the infirmary, however, he heard his mother’s chipper voice and Nathan’s distinct murmur. So, at least Nathan was still up and running even though the sun had gone down hours ago. He smirked to himself and got ready to greet the Irishman as he heard another voice.

"Ouch, Pogo" The voice whined theatrically. "I’m gonna tell Diego you poked me with a needle again when he comes back. Do you have no mercy? I am hurt and weak…"

"You’ll live" Pogo chuckled. 

He paused right by the door at the sound of his mother’s little chuckle. "I’m sure your brother comes back soon and then you can tell him all about the injustices you experienced today, Darling. I will get dinner ready now, you need food, Sweetheart."

"I’m starving!"

"I know you are."

"I’m starving too!"

"Don't worry, Honey, you’ll get dinner too." Grace chuckled and as Diego heard the clicking of her heels on the hardwood floor of the infirmary, he quickly snapped back into motion and walked up to the door. Almost he would have run into Grace but his quick reflexes saved them both from it. "Oh, Diego dear! Right on time, Darling! Your brother was already asking for you."

He could see Klaus sitting up in bed right over her shoulder. He grinned at him weakly and gave a lazy wave of his ‘Hello’ hand. His mother gave him a peck on his cheek before she brushed past him. He watched as Pogo finished up checking on Klaus before he walked closer. 

"Hey" Diego greeted his brother at last and exchanged a small look with Nathan who promptly got up from his chair. "You woke up."

"’Twas about time!" Nathan laughed and clasped Klaus’ shoulder before he moved around the bed. "And now that I am no longer needed as a babysitter, I’m gonna take a bath!" 

Diego gave a lopsided grin as Nathan patted his shoulder as he left. He wouldn't have imagined that Nathan was so tactful, after all. Even Pogo quickly excused himself to give Diego and Klaus a moment for themselves. Diego felt a little nervous at first but then he quickly moved closer to the bed and sat down on the edge to hug his brother. 

"You’re dirty" Klaus commented dryly but made room for Diego regardless so that the vigilante could lie down next to him. Lazily, Diego kicked off his boots as he did so.

"And you stink" He commented dryly with a deep sigh. "I can't believe I wasn't here when you woke up"

"Nathan said you wouldn't leave the room" Klaus huffed. "And that you were very rude to everyone who tried to pry me from your hands."

"Mhm," Diego hummed tiredly. "Sounds about right, lil bro." He put his arm around Klaus’ narrow shoulders and soon his brother’s head rested heavily on his shoulder. Forgotten was the fact that Diego needed a little patching up himself right now. He felt content just lying here. "How are you feeling?"

"As if I had been hit by a train - repeatedly." Klaus chuckled. "Getting better, though. Where’ve you been? Nate said you guys captured Hazel and then went on a suicide mission with him?"

"Yup" He replied popping the p. "We took out the Commission."

"Wow"

"Yeah"

"And Cha-Cha?"

"Dead." Diego shrugged. "Apparently, according to Hazel at least, they were attacked by  _ an army of angry ghosts  _ and Cha-Cha was pretty much ripped apart. He barely got out alive." 

"And now we are buddies with him?" Klaus didn't sound too bothered by the idea.

"Nathan gets to kick him in the nuts for the broken nose but other than that … yeah. He helped." 

"Hm"

"You want to kick him in the nuts too?"

"Can I?"

"Sure." 

**-End of Chapter 15-**


	16. Epilog

October 1st, 2019 hit the city with a thunderstorm. That was in no way remarkable. Just the perfectly normal result of a long hot summer and the last week of September being exceptionally muggy. Still, Klaus Hargreeves frowned at the sight as thick drops of rain slammed against the window of the living room while thunder was rolling across the sky relentlessly. He had really hoped that the warm weather would stay a little longer but now, just as October started, the world seemed ready to throw the first autumn storms at them like a toddler would throw a tantrum. 

"No birthday barbeque then" He sighed into the room as if he truly hoped that he would receive an answer. Nathan, who was currently balancing on a very untrustworthy looking ladder that was barely being held upright by being leaned against the upstairs balcony, hummed in response. He was inspecting one of the trophy heads that Sir Reginald had gathered throughout the years. Why Nathan desired to get up close and personal with the head of a dead boar was beyond Klaus but who was he to judge?

"Hey, you know what?" Nathan suddenly addressed him and Klaus shot him a bored look over the backrest of the couch he was lounging on right now. "I get to celebrate twice this year!"

"What did you do for your other birthday?"

"Blackjack and hookers"

"No, really."

"Yes, really." Nathan scoffed. "I turned thirty, after all - or so I thought. Well, anyway, what do you guys usually do?"

"Well, last year I was actually in rehab for my birthday, so … hooray, big party. But the year before that, I got Diego to get ridiculously drunk and throw eggs at the house." What a marvelous memory that was. They had giggled like children and run away as they had seen lights turning on inside.

"And what did you do as kids?"

"We didn't really celebrate" Klaus shrugged. "We only got one cake every year and that only because Mom insisted on it. It wasn't much of a day to celebrate, actually. Dad pretty much ignored it completely … so, it was like any other day. Training, schoolwork, missions. Same old, same old." 

"It's your first birthday together since old Reggie hit the bucket, huh?"

"Yup! And now we can’t even have a barbeque!" Klaus whined. They had already bought everything that they would have needed for a barbeque - even a new apron for Luther after that rather unfortunate incident during the last barbeque where the poor thing had miraculously caught fire after Luther had made a stupid comment at Diego’s outfit of the day. His brother Diego was always a bit overwhelmed during the summer months, helpless, one might say, when it came to his choice of clothes. 

"We should bake a cake!" Nathan grinned.

"Oh, pssht! You can't even bake!"

"Sure I can!" 

"No, you can't!" 

"I’m gonna prove it to you, you twat!" Nathan shot back. Klaus barely had time to realize how the ladder suddenly shook quite violently under Nathan’s weight as his brother was turning around just enough to flip him off. It happened too quickly for Klaus to react. He saw Nathan fall from the ladder with a shout and then land with a disgusting sounding crack on the floor below. Klaus glanced over at his twin brother as he lay there with a broken neck - unmoving. Despite the awful display, horror failed to strike him. 

"Mom!" He called from his seat on the sofa instead of freaking out. Nathan dying had quickly lost its novelty. "Nathan is dead!  _ Again! _ " 

Not a minute later, his mother walked in on red pumps and looked at Nathan on the ground. She clicked her tongue and sighed. "Oh dear, " She said unbothered, "again?"

"He fell off the ladder."

"Of course, he did." She chuckled. "This boy should be living in a plastic ball."

"He would manage to kill himself even then."

"It's a talent, don't be jealous of your brother, little bee. Come, help me lie your brother on the sofa." Nathan was a lot heavier than he looked and certainly heavier than Klaus himself as Grace and he carried him over to the sofa and placed him on it. "Let's hope he wakes up in time for dinner" Grace sighed pleasantly. She was probably already preparing a grand, fancy dinner for their 30th birthday. "It's his first birthday with us, after all." 

"Don't worry, Nathan would never miss a party. He probably hired a few strippers." 

"Oh, how nice! I’m making sure to have enough refreshments for everyone then." 

They were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing, and, for an instant, Klaus actually thought that his brother might have indeed hired a few strippers.

"I’m getting that one, Mom," Klaus said and gave his mother a peck on the cheek before he quickly hurried out of the living room. He could hear Vanya playing the violin upstairs but he hadn't seen Allison or his brothers for a while now - not that this would be weird. Diego was probably at the gym downstairs. As he walked up to the door, he could already make out two silhouettes through the frosted glass inlays of the door. Maybe he should have been a little more cautious after everything that they had been through these past few months but he didn't think about any kind of danger as he opened the door quickly only to come face to face with Simon Bellamy and a stern-looking young woman that wore her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail.

"Simon!" He exclaimed surprised by their sudden and unexpected arrival and went straight for the hug. Simon didn't disappoint him as he awkwardly reciprocated the hug. "Kelly, right?"

"Nice to finally meet in person." Kelly Bailey said with her thick accent that was even thicker in person somehow and pulled him into a hug as well. "Where’s Nathan?"

"Dead."

"Ah," She said unbothered by the news. Then again, she was probably even more used to her best friend dropping dead than Klaus was by now. "Well then, I guess the party can start now!" 

Not long after the two Brits had arrived at the house, Klaus’ siblings had gathered around to greet them. Especially the girls had been excited to meet Kelly after hearing so much about her. To no surprise, the three girls got along pretty well from the get-go. He had expected Vanya to shy away from Kelly’s attitude a bit but quite the opposite happened. Kelly and Vanya became fast friends in the mere two hours it took Nathan to recover from his broken neck.

※※※※※※※

"So, how have you been treated here?" Kelly grinned over the neck of her half-empty beer bottle. It was late, almost two in the morning but Nathan, Klaus, Simon, and Kelly still sat together in the living room, chatting and drinking. Ice tea - in Klaus’ case.

"Pretty well" Nathan grinned and Klaus snorted undignified. 

"Don't lie" He commented. "Five threatened to  _ ‘cut him open like a pig’  _ three times this week alone."

"It's meant as a term of endearment."

"Well," Kelly again spoke up and exchanged a small glance with Simon as she did. "What? Are you going to stay here now, or…"

Suddenly, Nathan felt catapulted back to his first day at the community center after that fateful storm. He was back knocking at the front door of his childhood home, pleading with his negligent mother to let him in only to receive a duffel bag with some of his clothes. 

He remembered walking the city, calling the few friends he had had on his old flip phone for help and a place to stay until his mother would take him back only to realize, that those people were no friends at all. He remembered the cold dread he had felt as he walked back to the community center that night because he had no other place to go. He remembered how bad he had felt that first night, how angry and sad he had been as his whole world crumbled around him and he realized that nothing that he had thought about his life was true. 

Suddenly, he had been confronted with the fact that he had no friends in this world and that his mother would, once again, take some random guy over her own son. He had been crushed by all of this and no one to turn to, no one to confide in. Instead, he had felt compelled to put on a mask for those other people he had just met because he didn't know them yet and didn't know what to make of them. 

It had always been his strategy to be loud and obnoxious and aggressive with new people to hide how scared he truly was of the rejection that he was always so sure to receive sooner or later. He had learned early in life that it was easier to be an asshole than to admit how lost and lonely he was.

The old fear of rejection suddenly came crashing back down on him as he sat here beside his twin brother who looked at him expectantly just like Kelly and Simon. He didn't know what to say. Boisterous, obnoxious old Nathan would have proclaimed that  _ ‘of course, I’m gonna stay because these assholes could deem themselves lucky to have me’  _ but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth and he knew exactly why too. 

He was afraid. Afraid that Klaus and his family would have enough of him - that he was not actually part of the family. Sure, Klaus and he were the same blood but Klaus and his siblings had a history. Blood was not always thicker than water. He was afraid that Klaus didn't want him here, that his siblings didn't want him here. What if they already had enough of him and his antics? What if they were all secretly waiting for Nathan to finally leave again? He had been staying here over the summer, after all. They were probably expecting him to leave and move on now - like a bird that would fly south when the days would get colder.

"Nate?" Simon prodded with that knowing look that sometimes made Nathan want to punch him. He probably should punch him. There was no one else who would do such a thing, after all. Simon was probably missing being punched on a regular basis. Maybe he should go back home to England - or Ireland. Then again, where would he go there? He couldn't bother his friends until the end of time, right? And he didn't have any family left there. His family was here now. And, though he was anxious to admit it, he really loved this gang of fucked-up, crazy, ex-superheroes. 

"I mean," he then quietly muttered, "if they’d have me."

"Sure" Klaus replied almost instantly and winked at him. "We would love to have you."

He didn't know how to feel at this moment. Ten years ago, his life had fallen apart completely when his mother had kicked him out of her life - too fed up with his shenanigans and him in general - and now that he was here, he realized that he had never felt as at home somewhere. He had never truly felt at home at his mother’s house or in England in general. All his life, he had been searching for a meaningful connection without admitting it to himself, or at the very least for a home - a place where he would actually feel safe and welcome and loved. 

Who would have thought that he would find home an ocean away from good old London in some dusty old manor, with a twin brother he had never known about, people that had adopted him quickly into their fold as a brother, and a robot mom that would take care of him?

**-End of Chapter 16-**


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